When I was a teenager, I had a very stylish friend who often wore her grandmother’s old clothes. She would always tell me that all trends eventually come back at one time or another. This phenomenon is also common in food. Older methods suddenly resurface and enjoy their “cool factor.” And for fermentation, it is currently back in style. This new wave of popularity is driven by recent promising scientific discoveries linking our health to microorganisms found in these foods and in our digestive tract.
Used for thousands of years, this preservation method is very likely as old as human history itself. Imagine for a moment the inability, for example, to cool perishable foods. In a very short period of time, bacteria and yeasts would settle in and transform them, not only altering their appearance, but also their texture, flavour and smell. Given this context, it’s unsurprising that almost all cultures claim to have “discovered” fermentation at some point in their history. Foods resulting from this process have thus carved out a prime spot within rather diverse cultures across almost all continents. Some examples include Korean kimchi, Japanese miso, or yogurt and sauerkraut courtesy of Europeans.
The best part of all this is that most of the work in this process isn’t done by us. Once ingredients are assembled, the microorganisms take over. Therefore, by feeding on food–usually sugar–they transform the foods for us.
Korean Cuisine
Homemade Kimchi
Homemade Recipes
Homemade Greek Yogurt
Taming the invisible
For a long time, fermentation proved to be essential when it came to extending the life of certain foods. Take yogurt, for example, made from milk fermented by certain bacteria strains. By feeding on the sugar that’s naturally present in milk, these bacteria generate lactic acid, otherwise referred to as lactic fermentation. All foods fermented by lactic acid bacteria, such as sauerkraut, buttermilk, kefir and kimchi, are lacto-fermented. In doing so, their pH levels are decreased. What’s most interesting is that this sudden environmental modification makes this “acidic milk” less attractive to many microorganisms, which prefer to settle in a neutral environment instead. It’s a type of defense barrier against certain bacteria that could be potentially harmful to human health. If others still try to settle in, the bacteria that have chosen the food as their “home” now have the upper hand, offering a much longer shelf life than a litre of milk, which itself is a far more hospitable environment for surrounding bacteria.
Fermentation, however, is more than just a purely utilitarian food transformation method. It was quickly realized that our taste buds could also benefit. As mentioned earlier, it produces a pleasant acidic and sometimes vinegary flavour, such as in sauerkraut and certain kinds of pickles. Another way that foods’ flavour can be enhanced is through the creation of molecules by bacteria and yeasts. In cheese, for example, microorganisms can transform nutrients like proteins and lipids into smaller compounds. These compounds are perceived by the tongue and nose, creating new flavours and tastes. Additionally, these microorganisms can sometimes cause physical changes. Notably, they’re responsible for the fizziness of kombucha, a fermented tea-based beverage. Another type of fermentation that has fascinated humanity since its discovery is alcoholic fermentation, where carbohydrates from grains, fruits and vegetables are transformed into alcohol via the actions of certain microorganisms.
Non-alcoholic drinks and mocktails
Ginger Beer
Making kombucha or kimchi at home is easier than you may think, not too expensive and pretty fun. At least, that’s what I’ve retained from my own experience! Often, the ferments (bacteria and yeasts already present in the environment) are enough to start the fermentation process of certain fruits and vegetables, which can nearly all be lacto-fermented. Sometimes, such as in the case of kombucha, a “mother” culture is required to begin the process. These can easily be procured at most natural food stores. But before reaching for your wallet, ask your social circle first; a small culture sample is often enough to be able to produce your own.
Cooking Projects
Homemade Kombucha with Raspberry and Hibiscus
A world to discover
The benefits of fermentation go beyond the taste experience it provides. It can also enhance the nutritional value of foods, as yeasts and bacteria are able to produce vitamins. Some fermented ingredients, such as vegetables and dairy products, are even richer in some B vitamins compared to their raw or unprocessed versions. And given that they start digesting the food for us, microorganisms also aid in the absorption of certain nutrients, such as iron, calcium and vitamin D. However, it’s still challenging, if not impossible, to draw general conclusions about fermented foods because even though they’ve been around for a long time, science has only just begun studying them. So it will likely be a long while before we know more about their benefits.
When reading about nutrition, you’ll quickly notice that researchers have developed in recent years an obsession with microorganisms, particularly with those living deep within us in our microbiota. Many recent findings indeed indicate a strong correlation between them and our health. For example, it’s known that a high diversity of bacteria within the digestive tract is associated with lower risks of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity.
When consuming fermented foods, you also ingest large amounts of live bacteria and yeasts. Some suggest that this can enhance the diversity of our microbiota. However, many of these live bacteria and yeasts don’t survive digestion and never make it to the intestines to establish themselves. Those that do can impact health.
Fermentation minimally alters food, but when the industry adopts a trend, it can sometimes go astray. Consider, for example, the many kinds of yogurt. On its own, the fermented milk is beneficial for one’s health, but it’s much less so when artificial colours, flavours, synthetic sweeteners or large quantities of sugar are added.
This conclusion might seem a bit disappointing, but it actually confirms that a new world awaits researchers tackling this subject. As for you, don’t wait to incorporate them into your diet! There are few constants in nutrition, but one rule that has been proven effective over time is that a diverse diet is our best guarantee for good health. The more different foods we eat, whether raw or minimally processed through methods like fermentation, the more likely we can reap their benefits. And the best part? Fermented foods provide us with so much more. We have everything to gain by discovering the unique flavours crafted by these invisible armies, just as millions of humans did before us.
