It has been really fun to follow along with Erin’s look at Nourishing Traditions. I read that book almost five years ago now and it really changed the way I look at food, nourishment, and health.
Since then I have become a bit of a fermented food nut. We’ve dabbled in homemade yogurt, kefir, kombucha, water kefir, fermented vegetables, grains, and now I’ve jumped into the world of fruit. Well, technically rhubarb is a vegetable, but the raisins included are fruit.
The problem I have with rhubarb is not the vegetable itself but the gobs of sugar used in making it taste like something it isn’t – a super sweet fruit. Rhubarb has such a lovely sourness to it that just a bit of sweetening can really highlight the natural flavors instead of covering them up.
And in my quest to feed my family fermented foods every day I was hoping for something to add to breakfast. We like this in yogurt but I am thinking it would make a delicious topping to grain-free pancakes.
The one challenge with fruits is that their sugar can make them, well, a bit boozy after a while. So eat this stuff up within a week or two after fermenting before your raisins make wine :).
Lacto-Fermented Rhubarb Chutney
Source: www.plantoeat.com
Course: Condiments
Serves:
Ingredients
- 2 cups diced rhubarb about 3 medium stalks
- 1⁄2 cup raisins
- 1⁄4 cup chopped pistachios or other chopped nut
- 1⁄2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1⁄4 cup whey
- 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3⁄4 cup water
Directions
- Place diced rhubarb in a quart jar. Run your knife through the raisins to break them up a bit and then add them to the quart jar along with the pistachios, sea salt, whey, cinnamon, and water.
- Mix very well with a spoon and then use the spoon (or your hand) to push the rhubarb mixture below the liquid level.
- Cover with the jar lid tightly and leave in a warm place for 2-5 days. Fermentation is an art more than a science, so check this every day to see if it has started to bubble and to be sure the liquid level is still covering the rhubarb.
- Once it is bubbly and tastes slightly fermented store it in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks. Use in yogurt, on top of pancakes, or on top of protein or vegetables.