while providing good gut health is one of the acknowledged benefits of eating fermented foods living with a fermenter comes with its own set of challenges.

certainly within our household and our resident fermenter there is a lot of experimentation that goes on. how else does one learn whats what,how else are we able to create unless we are prepared to go out on a limb and try things??

sometimes there are smells that seem totally off the chart followed by tastes that can unsettle our known palate.

every so often I find a forgotten jar in the bottom of the cool room or a pantry shelf and wonder what I am seeing – a strange cocktail of colour and growth which just goes to show that there are good bacterias and then there are not so good.

taking the lid off can takes ones breath away, knock ones socks off and activate a gag reflex.

happily this does not happen often but experimentation does require bold moves and this man here has them.

indeed the bolder the stronger the smell the better as far as he is concerned.

sharing a kitchen and living space with this level of dedication means there are times when I burn a lot of incense or take long walks in the forest and breath deeply.

mostly though I am on the receiving end of flourishing bacteria’s that are known to make my interior a more healthy space.

we always have a few staples such as sauerkraut – in which the cabbages are chopped and pounded and salted away into a crock where over a period of time they achieve a wilted and soury tang to them. turnips have become another staple using the same process and in summertime when the cucumbers are rolling off the vine they are salted and laid aside until they appear as dill pickles. vinegar is not employed in any of these processes.

and of course there are times such as last years wedding of the youngest daughter to the handsome personal trainer that a range of cheeses were made. collecting gallons of fresh jersey milk from a local farmer and with the help of particular bacteria’s a mini factory is set up in the kitchen with bowls and wheys and curds and thermometers and voila – ricotta is produced followed by feta haloumi cheddar and brie. perfect pats of cheeses in the cool room gives one the feeling of living in the land of milk and honey. just try getting into the kitchen to cook a meal at these times and here we are out in the bush miles from any take away joints.

fishes caught at the wharf with the little king get pickled. by now you have probably got the idea why I use the term angel because the gut health of our family is being so well taken care of.

it is true we have danced with kefir and kombucha and water kefir but the piece de resistance happened last week. this man really earned his wings when he opened a crock and delivered unto us the family, a three-year-old miso. (there should be a drum roll in there somewhere)

oh my goodness it is very good

very good indeed.