Fermenting Vegetables to Increase Food Security in Afghanistan

This is a primer on food preservation methods that are simple and don't require a lot of specialized tools, ingredients or complicated methods.

Fermentation has been around for thousands of years, and is one of the easiest ways to preserve food (like I said, in the video, salt, water, vegetable, starter, crock, flat thing and rock... doesn't get much easier than that).

I received a couple words of advice from my mom, an expert canner, farmer and entrepreneur, after I finished the video that I wanted to share with you before you embark on your own Afghan fermentation adventure. She mentioned that plastic containers are also perfectly fine to use when fermenting vegetables. In fact, my grandmother used to make her sauerkraut in a clean plastic ice cream bucket if she was in a pinch.

Also, I used fresh cabbage juice in the video for the cauliflower fermentation. However, if you're teaching a class on fermentation downrange, you should use fermented juice to provide a good bacteria-filled starter for the cauliflower or other cultured vegetables you may want to use.

I purposely didn't use a bunch of different spices (except the garlic) to show the simplicity of the finished product, and they are delicious when made that way. However, most recipes for fermented veggies usually have some sort of seasoning mixed in, from caraway seeds in German sauerkraut to tons of chili powder in Korean kimchi to DIY food preservation nuts who add cumin, curry, coriander or whatever to their final product. What you add is entirely up to you, so be creative and research the spices that are available to the people in your area.

As a final note to the folks in Afghanistan, if you make this on base as a "tester" or to get a kraut starter going, don't put in in your billeting area, your tent or at your work station.

Why? I'm glad you asked!

Fermenting stuff doesn't smell good. It's um... pungent. It doesn't mean that it's bad, it just means that it's working. This is why kimchi crocks are traditionally buried underground in Korea and root cellars are extremely valuable. I eventually put the crocks you see in the video in my backyard to keep the smell of it away from my neighbors. However, they loved the final product. :)

Good luck and feel free to shoot an email to the PiX community at: share@pixtoday.net if you run into problems or questions.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Vegetable
• Fermentation (food)
• Food