LEARN TO MAKE REAL SAUERKRAUT
Saturday, February 4th, 2012; 9am – noon
at Curious Farm in NW Portland (directions sent upon registration)
Cost: $60, preregistration required
Class Description:
It’s winter and the cabbages are sweet so let’s make sauerkraut! Healthful as well as delicious, real sauerkraut gets its sourness from beneficial probiotics that develop and transform the cabbage during fermentation. The hardest part of making sauerkraut is having patience while it ferments because it takes a month or more to ferment!
During this class, we’ll talk about vegetable fermentation in general, and each student will prepare a special fermentation jar with sauerkraut so that it can ferment safely in your kitchen until later in the winter when it’s ready. You will choose from among a variety of ingredients and spices to create a sauerkraut that your family will love.
There will be ample opportunity to taste different cultured products (sauerkraut, kimchi, kvass, pickles) and learn about their differences. Classes usually last between 2 – 3 hours. Please be on time. There is so much to cover.
Why You Want to Take this Class:
Live-cultured sauerkraut not only tastes good – it is good for you. Sauerkraut is rich in beneficial lactobacilli, B and C vitamins, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and many antioxidants. According to a study published in October 2002, in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Finnish researchers have determined that sauerkraut may be a stronger cancer inhibitor than raw or cooked cabbage because of the isothiocynates that develop during the fermentation process. Other studies by the University of New Mexico and the American Center for Cancer Research suggest that sauerkraut may be an important food for preventing and healing breast cancer.
Cathy Smith has been farming (small-scale, bio-intensive, organic methods) at her suburban homestead for several years and looked for a way to preserve the bounty while retaining as many nutrients as possible. Making live-cultured pickles, sauerkrauts, kimchi and more has become an art and a passion for her. In 2011, she brought Curious Farm products to the Beaverton Farmers Market, and she looks forward to being at the Market again in 2012. In Fall 2011, Food Front on NW Thurman Street in Portland began carrying selected Curious Farm products.
Please Bring to Class:
Please bring to class: a sturdy bowl, a knife that you feel comfortable using to cut cabbage, carrots and other vegetables, and an old bath towel. Everything else will be provided!
If you already have your own (entirely sound and un-cracked) ceramic crock, water-sealed crock, or air-lock fermenting jar (because you’ve taken another class with me or just have your own with an air lock system), then the cost of the class will be $45. Please correspond with Cathy about the equipment you have when you register.
TO REGISTER…
contact Cathy Smith
email: cathy@curiousfarm.com
phone: 971.248.0717
and visit the Curious Farm website: http://www.curiousfarm.com/classes
CANCELLATION POLICY:
Thank you for understanding that Curious Farm is only able to refund registration fees if cancellation is made prior to one week (7 days) before the scheduled class. Considerable cost (time and money) goes in to securing ingredients and supplies so that each student has what she or he needs for the class. Last-minute cancellations will prevent me from being able to offer these workshops at a reasonable cost.
Thank you!
COMING SOON… LEARN TO MAKE KIMCHI
Kimchi is a Korean way of preserving vegetables that keeps them crispy and bright-tasting. Not only does the fermenting technique preserve nutrients, it actually increases the vitamins in the vegetables themselves and adds health-giving probiotics. The recipe we’ll use is vegan (no fish) and sugar-free. Once you learn this easy technique, you’ll have a ball varying the vegetables, heat-level, and flavors to suit your family’s preferences. During the class, you also will have the opportunity to choose the spice-level of the batch you will take home. Your jar of kimchi will ferment on your kitchen counter for just a week, and then it will be ready to eat!
