Fermented Foods

Primary School Milk. Everyone in these islands has a memory of it. My early South of England memory is of little glass bottles, probably holding a third of a pint, kept and served cold outside. And – in a misguided effort to make it more attractive – it came in two flavours, chocolate and strawberry. I liked both.

How different, that memory from the recollection of a lady, sitting beside me, who I would have judged to be just a little older than myself. This lady's memory was of a West Cork classroom. And here the churn of milk was never bottled or flavoured, never left outside to chill, but rather ceremonially brought inside to sit beside the lit fire. In this classroom everyone expected and enjoyed the milk to be drunk raw and blood-warm.

The lady beside me shared her milk memory at a discussion on fermenting food at the recent Taste of West Cork food festival in Skibbereen.

Fermented foods span the globe. From the Arctic to the Tropics, Africa to Northern Europe. Wherever there is food there is ferment: Cheese. Vinegar. Sauerkraut. Kefir. Kvass. Wine. Yogurt. Proper bread.

But what is Ireland’s gift to this global bacterial culture, surely we too must have a historical tradition of fermented food?

We do, of course, and that food has always been derived from milk: warm, unabashedly ripened, used as buttermilk, cheese and whey. Historically, milk is our great fermented ingredient.

Fermented food is good for you. It increases digestibility, enhances nutritional content, replaces your beneficial bacteria, oxygenates the blood and generally makes you feel better.

One of the great global recipes for fermented foods is Korean Kim Chee. This white version is adapted from a Momofuko recipe from David Chang. Kim Chee is like some sort of superannuated coleslaw and goes with everything. It makes a great lunch with a fried egg.

• The Taste of West Cork demo was hosted by nutrionists Janice and Hayley.

• Hayley and Janice's fermented foods are available in the Skibbereen Saturday market under the label The Nourishing Food Company.

• The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz has recently been published if you want to learn more about how to make the most of bacteria. It's available – along with balls of kefir, incidentally – from Amazon.

Kim Chee

1 head cabbage, shredded
half cup runner beans, very finely sliced
2 tablespoons salt
8 cloves peeled garlic
2" piece of ginger
quarter cup finely julienned ginger
three-quarters cup syrup made from water and two tablespoons sugar
quarter cup soy sauce
quarter cup rice or white malt vinegar
1 carrot, finely julienned
3 spring onions, cut into 1 inch pieces and halved lengthways.

Shred the cabbage, and place in a bowl overnight with the runner beans and the salt. The next morning, drain off the liquid and place the cabbage back in the bowl.

Puree the piece of ginger with the garlic and the syrup, then pour over the cabbage. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir everything together, using your hands.

Transfer to an airtight container, such as a large kilner jar and store in the fridge for a week. The kim chee is actually delicious straight away, but becomes slightly fizzy at the end of a fortnight, but which time it is probably wise to use it up. Though proper Korean cooks would probably keep it longer. Even the liquid can be used, delicious for noodles.