We now present two of the Diet's special, signature foods: "super" foods that contribute immensely to healing and building your inner ecosystem. On this page, raw cultured vegetables, then, read about kefir from the water of young green coconuts.
*From the 9th edition Body Ecology Diet, by Donna Gates.*
Cultured vegetables are made by shredding cabbage or a combination of cabbage and other vegetables and then packing them tightly into an airtight container. They are left to ferment at room temperature for several days or longer. Friendly bacteria naturally present in the vegetables quickly lower the pH, making a more acidic environment so the bacteria can reproduce. The vegetables become soft, delicious, and somewhat "pickled."
The airtight container can be glass or stainless steel. Use a 1 to 1½ quart container that seals with a rubber or plastic ring and a clamp down lid. Room temperature means 72 degrees Fahrenheit, for at least 3 days. We prefer to let ours sit for six or seven days. You can taste them at different stages and decide for yourself.
In the winter months if your kitchen temperature falls below 70 degrees, wrap the container in a towel and place it inside an insulated or thermal chest. In the summer months the veggies culture faster. They may be ready in just three or four days.
During this fermentation period, the friendly bacteria are having a heyday, reproducing and converting sugars and starches to lactic acid. Once the initial process is over, it is time to slow down the bacterial activity by putting the cultured veggies in the refrigerator. The cold greatly slows the fermentation, but does not stop it completely. Even if the veggies sit in your refrigerator for months, they will not spoil; instead they become more like fine wine, more delicious with time. Properly made, cultured vegetables have at least an eight month shelf life.
While it is not necessary to add a "starter culture" to your vegetables, we recommend that you do it just to ensure that your vegetables begin fermenting with a hardy strain of beneficial bacteria.
Body Ecology's Cultured Vegetable Starter contains a very robust bacterium called L. Plantarum. (See our recipes below.)
Enjoying the Fruits of Your Labor
Once you master the basic technique, be creative. Try different vegetable combinations, and include dark green leafy vegetables like kale and collards. Soak, drain, and chop up some ocean vegetables like dulse, wakame, hijiki, and arame. Add your favorite herbs (dried or fresh), seeds (dill or caraway), and juniper berries. Even lemon juice can be added to the "brine." Try leaving out the cabbage all together and making a batch of cultured daikon.
Two of our favorite beginner recipes
One important secret to making really delicious yet medicinal cultured
veggies is to use freshly harvested, organic, well-cleaned vegetables. After
washing the veggies, spin them dry. Clean equipment is essential. Scald
everything you use in very hot water.
Version 1
3 heads green cabbage, shredded in a food processor
1 bunch kale, chopped by hand
(optional): 2 cups wakame ocean vegetables (measured after soaking),
drained, spine removed, and chopped
1 Tbsp. dill seed
Version 2
3 heads green cabbage, shredded in a food processor
6 carrots, large, shredded in a food processor
3 inch piece ginger, peeled and chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
My Favorite Version
3 large red beets
3 heads green cabbage
12 carrots
3 inch piece of ginger, peeled
6 cloves garlic peeled
I cut everything small enough to run through my champion juicer. I replace the strainer with the solid plate. The champion cuts up the veggies much finer than a blender and is so much easier, especially if you want to double or triple the batch.
To make Cultured Vegetables
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
Remove several cups of this mixture and put into a blender.
Add enough filtered water to make a "brine" the consistency of
a thick juice. Blend well and then add brine back into first mixture. Stir
well.
Pack mixture down into a 1½ quart glass or stainless steel container.
Use your fist, a wooden dowel, or a potato masher to pack veggies tightly.
Fill container almost full, but leave about 2 inches of room at the top
for veggies to expand.
Roll up several cabbage leaves into a tight "log" and place
them on top to fill the remaining 2 inch space. Clamp jar closed.
Make sure you place a tray underneath your bottles because as the
veggies ferment they will bubble over a bit or leak around the lid.
Do not open the bottles to take some of the liquid or veggie mixture out
to stop the leaking. Opening the jar lets in air and slows down the
fermentation or can cause mold. Even though you might be worried a glass
jar will break, I have never had that happen.
Let veggies sit at about a 70 degree room temperature for at least three
days. A week is even better. Refrigerate to slow down fermentation. In the
summertime you can ferment your veggies in the basement so they do not get
too hot.
Enjoy!
To use Body Ecology's Culture Starter
Dissolve one or two packages of starter
culture in 1½ cup warm (90*) water. Add aproximately 1 tsp. of some form
of sugar to feed the starter.
Let starter/sugar mixture sit for about 20 minutes or longer while the L.
Plantarum and other bacteria wake up and begin enjoying the sugar. Add this
starter culture to the brine (step 3).
Questions and Answers about Body Ecology Culture Starter
Q. What is the danger, if any, of contracting botulism or a similar bacteria related infection from using the veggie culture starter that you sell on your website.
A. If the instructrions are followed and care is taken to use clean utensils and jars, fermented foods are very safe. The enormous numbers of benefical bacteria (in the veggie culture this would be Lactobaccilus Plantarum) destroy pathogens. The Body Ecology method of making cultured veggies use this bacteria to ensure that a hardy beneficial bacteria is used to ensure that if any pathogens are present they would not grow. However, if you should ever have a batch that is not fermented but is spoiled, you would definitely know it. The finished product would smell gross and be ugly in color.Cultured veggies are bright and beautiful and have a pickled, sour smell.
Q. Also, if sanitization of the containers to be used is necessary, how would I go about this? Or is a cleaned crock pot or new mason jar ok as is?
A. You do not have to sterilize the jars or crocks. But do use common sense. Wash jars well in soapy water and rinse with very hot water. Also wash off any spoons or utensils that you will be using to dip into the cultured veggies or kefir. Do not eat straight from the jar. Take out a portion that you are going to eat or drink and eat just this amount.
Q. Can I make cultured veggies without a starter?
A. Yes, absolutely. This has been done for thousands of years. But today when people ferment veggies they add salt to inhibit any pathogenic bacteria from getting started in the cultured veggies before the "good guys" are get started. Once the beneficial bacteria predominate, the pathogenic bacteria can t grow.
But at Body Ecology we do not use salt DURING THE FERMENTATION. Some people do not want a salty product and we also feel there is an even better way. Instead of using salt to inhibit any potential pathogen, we prefer instead to use a hardy beneficial bacteria (which you will find in our Culture Starter). Stir a package of the culture starter into the mixture of shredded and chopped veggies to make sure the good guys start up right from the beginning. This starter contains Plantarum, a wonderful, hardy bacteria, that is antiviral and once it colonizes in your intestines, is not destroyed by antibiotics if you should have to take one for a really severe bacterial infection.
Q. When can you use Sea Salt and what kind do we recommend?
A. For the many people who prefer a salty taste you can add Celtic Sea Salt after fermentation. We also suggest adding organic, unrefined, virgin oils as well, including olive, pumpkinseed, flax oil, ESSENTIAL WOMAN (by Barlean s) along with the Celtic Sea Salt just to make your cultured veggies tastier (more like a "probiotic salad").
* These statements have
not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not
intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease.
