Raw Pickling and Live Fermenting: 60 Live-Culture Probiotic-Rich Recipes

60 classic and unique recipes for probiotic-rich ferments such as sauerkraut, pickled veggies, salsas, kimchi, sourdough, jun tea, and more!

Fermenting, in the simplest definition, is changing food into a healthier version of itself--a version that basically stays fresh, forever. Sounds kind of magical, doesn’t it? It kind of is.

Fermenting is what happens when you mix two things together: food and salt. As soon as food and salt are combined, they wake up microbes--bacteria and yeast that are living in and on the food. This book explores a specific type of fermentation: raw pickling or live-fermentation. Live-fermented foods are the healthiest to eat and easiest to make. Live-fermentation is simpler than canning and the food lasts longer than freezing. This technique saves time and energy, as it cuts down on heating and cooking. Live-fermented foods do not require refrigeration. Plus, they can stay fresh indefinitely.

In addition to saving energy costs, fermenting increases a food’s health benefits. Live-fermented foods are healthier than their original raw products. Vital nutrients and vitamins--often destroyed with heating--are not only kept alive, but improved. And other nutrients are actually created during fermentation.

Susan Crowther and Julie Fallone offer step-by-step instructions for pickling and fermenting all kinds of produce from carrots to garlic to sweet potatoes, plus offers recipes for Live-Fermented Hot Sauce, Fermented Hot Honey, and more unique and healthy goodies. Readers will also find recipes for kombucha, jun tea, and other probiotic drinks. Finally, there’s an abundance of recipes for incorporating your probiotic-rich ferments into other recipes, such as Healthier Hummus, Jun Sourdough Bread, Cultured Muffins, and even . . . wait for it . . . Chocolate Sauerkraut Cake!

Susan Crowther graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and eventually ran her own catering business--Susie’s Menu. Susie’s passions encompass cooking, writing, and health. She has worn several hats: cook, chef, caterer, nutritionist, massage therapist, health educator, college professor, and mom. She sells her fermented goodies under the name FerMont in and around her hometown of Brattleboro, Vermont.

Julie Fallone has made food her career and passion from an early age. She has run a restaurant kitchen and a catering company and written a newspaper food column. Today she devotes her time to food photography, recipe testing, and jewelry making from her Baltimore apartment.