Today, we're all gonna brush up
on one of the world's oldest ways
of preserving food.
So your garden's bounty goes
on your plate rather than in the bin.
Full-time fermenter Adam James
has turned his handy hobby
into an obsession.
A few years ago, he sold his cafe
and started his own business
fermenting fruit and vegies.
Today, we're gathering produce
from Adam's friend's farm.
It's the end of the season and these
vegies are on their last legs.
They're past their prime
to sell in stores or restaurants,
but they're perfect for fermenting.
It's pretty good to have a mate
that has a farm.
Oh, it's amazing.
I love it out here.
Look at all this late summer bounty.
We've got tomatoes, green tomatoes,
few varieties of heirloom eggplant.
Yep.
Got some cucumbers down the way.
Got a few different types of chilli.
We got some big Jims, shishito,
jalapenos.
And then we've also got
a glut of chervils.
So reckon we might add a bit of that
for a nice little kick of...
..aniseed kind of flavour
through there.
Nice. Sounding pretty tasty.
Adam's going to show us the simple
technique of fermenting raw vegies
using just salt and time.
So we're off to his place.
Well, not a bad harvest.
Here's the haul.
(CHUCKLES)
See you later, summer.
Adam's converted his place in Hobart
to a small-scale
fermentation station.
It's packed
with curious pots and jars
of colourful ferments
and experiments.
We've washed the produce and have
the makings of a fermented hot sauce.
But whatever vegies you're using,
the principles are the same -
bacteria already present in food,
with salt,
converts the raw vegies
into a delicious, sour
and easy to digest pot of goodness.
What we're doing today
is called wild fermentation.
And so we're relying on naturally
occurring bacteria and yeast,
which are kind of omnipresent.
They're pretty much gonna be doing
the alchemy.
They're gonna be doing
that transformation.
Basically, we're just gonna be
providing a suitable climate
for the lactobacillus to thrive.
Yep.
And in doing so, that's actually
going to create an environment
where it's inhospitable
for pathogens.
So good bacteria thrive,
the nasty ones don't.
So what kind of kit do you need
to ferment stuff?
It's really basic.
We need good vegetables and salt.
The salt is the preservative.
And then depending on the vegetable,
we may or may not add
some water as well.
In which case you'd use like
a filtered, non-chlorinated water.
But it's as simple as that.
What we end up with is a beautifully
preserved nutrient-rich pickle.
Per see, or in or in today's case
it's gonna be a sauce.
So this is gonna be a...
What did we call it? The, ah...
Say Goodbye to Summer salsa.
Correct. Spicy salsa.
(LAUGHS)
We've got a good 20 kilos
of prime fruit and vegetables
and this is all we're putting
in the compost.
So, you know, we've got
a few little offcuts.
What's that, 400 grams?
Yeah.
Out of out of 20 kilos. So I think
that that's a pretty good ratio.
And it's something the backyarder...
At the end of that season, when
you're trying to rip everything out,
why not use it?
Exactly.
So the next integral ingredient
today, salt.
So I prefer to use
non-iodised sea salt.
But when it comes down to it,
any salt is gonna do the trick.
Because we're making
a chilli-based salsa,
it can afford to be pretty salty.
So we're using 4% to 5% salt
to vegie weight.
If you're fermenting chopped vegies
like carrots,
you'll probably use more
like 2% to 3%.
Wow.
That's the biggest whizzy stick
I've ever seen.
If I just had a little one
or a food processor,
would that be enough?
Absolutely.
This is just for industrial
quantities of vegetables
when they come across my path.
Wow, that smell is great!
Adam's son, Leo, has been tasting
his concoctions for years
and today, he's giving us
the ultimate taste test.
Alrighty, mate.
Let's see what you think then.
Hmm. It tastes really salty.
Quite spicy.
Yeah, it's got a bit of kick to it.
It's very spicy, actually.
Want some more?
Sure.
(BOTH LAUGH)
It's passed
the royal Leo taste test
and now just needs another sprinkle
of salt on the surface of the food
and around the edges of the crock.
And that's just to discourage
any kind of mould growth
or that type of thing.
There could be a little film
of white which develops over time
and that's just kahm yeast,
it's nothing to be worried about.
It's just a naturally occurring
yeast and can just be removed.
So either just...
Scooped off?
Exactly right. Yep.
People have been fermenting food
in crocks like this
for thousands of years.
By the way,
this is a lovely crock pot
and you've got some wonderful ones
behind you.
Thank you.
Yeah, it's actually become
a bit of an obsession of mine.
And it's fascinating for me
wherever I've travelled,
that, you know,
in the fermentation world,
they all come with their own
incredible crocks.
You know, in Korea,
they call them onggi,
there's many different shapes
and designs.
But what a beautiful thing.
But if I don't have something
as gorgeous and big as this,
can I use a jar?
Absolutely.
These work really, really well.
When vegetables ferment,
they do release carbon dioxide
so it will build in pressure.
So with something like this,
it is important just to give it
a burp every now and then.
So I'd say once a day
just to release the carbon dioxide,
but then otherwise we're not
letting oxygen get inside.
The longer you let it ferment,
the more acidic it's gonna get,
the more sour it's gonna get.
I like to let my ferments
generally go quite acidic,
'cause for me, that's where all
those beautiful layers of flavour
really come from.
And at a month's... Also when...
If you're talking about, you know,
the probiotics and, you know,
the health side of things,
the three weeks to a month
is generally when it starts to sing.
But I will check them on
a weekly basis as we go.
I've never made two ferments
the same.
There's no fixed ratio or recipe
that you have to adhere to.
And for me, that's the fun part.
It's creating something new
and absolutely delicious.
In Australia, on average,
we waste 20% of the food we buy.
That's one bag of groceries
in every five
that never makes it into our mouths.
Now, it doesn't matter
if you've got a big vegie garden,
fermenting is a retro skill
worth bringing back.
So why don't you try
whipping up a jar full
next time you're doing
your big fridge clean-out?
