Day 40 out of 40

It is hard to believe it is day 40. Thank you for following along. I have been trying to show what I cook daily and how I incorporate a culture to ferment the grains we use. I feel like I didn’t even get to talk about fermenting seeds, my pot luck loaf, freezing bread from a rainy day, our lunch boxes… I was trying not to make something special to post, but show our rhythm, what we make and eat and share with friends this time of the year. I use other cultures. I specially love milk kefir, but I did focus on sourdough this time around. I think of early Spring as a time of transition. One day is cold in the kitchen and the bread rise slowly; another day got warm and the sourdough over proofed. I want to take it all in. I am not done eating the last squashes or the green beans we preserved from last year’s garden. I don’t want to hurry, but savor the time when we can notice the sprouting potatoes, appreciate the last tub of pesto and drink birch sap.

I look at my cooking as non linear daily living stories. Maybe because I see as opportunities to rearrange and break the timeline. We can take an ingredient and dream it in different dishes in different ways in a different time frame. We get to choose the path that the narrative will go and learn from each other.

Yesterday I started the process of making bread kvass, today I mixed all the ingredients and now I will wait. Transition. Time. Transformation.

Bread Kvass adapted from many places, this time of the year I like to use birch sap and wait for spontaneous fermentation, but today I mixed with one tablespoon of sourdough starter.

1. Boil 4-5 cups of water and pour over a few slices of rye and other whole grain breads (toasted or roasted to very dark.) Cover and let it sit a day or so.
2. Strain and add: 3 tbsp of raw honey, a couple pieces of dried fruit, a heaping tbsp of sourdough starter (some people use commercial yeast) and fill with water to complete the 2 quart jar.
3. Now wait a few days. I will taste and monitor fermentation. If you are in a warm place can be a couple days.
4. To create a bubbly drink, I will strain, maybe add a teaspoon of honey, maybe spices and add to air tight bottles, burping daily to desired taste. Then I will move to the fridge to slowdown the fermentation.

PS: Another process is after we add boiled water to the bread, let it cool and add all the other ingredients right away and let it ferment then strain. You can also add flavors at that point as well. Then strain and bottle for carbonation.