Salt and fermentation
"Some people do not seek gold, but there is no man who does not need salt."
(Cassiodorus, 523 AD).
Salt is a very important ingredient for fermentation, if not fundamental.
But in general, salt is a fundamental ingredient in cooking, both as a flavoring and as a preservative.
And, strange as it may sound, salt is very important for your health.
Certainly its discovery and use were also fundamental in human evolution.
In recent years, especially in the West, this mineral, also commonly known as sodium chloride, has been much denigrated, often unfairly.
Sodium chloride is a fundamental compound for life on Earth, salt is contained in the tissues and fluids of living beings. Whole sea salt has a mineral profile similar to that of our blood.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, salt (intended as whole and natural), nourishes the kidneys, has clarifying, alkalizing, purifying and centering qualities, strengthens digestion, and promotes intestinal mobility. The Canon of Internal Medicine states that salt tones the heart and mind. Salt has descending qualities and connects to our root chakra, the emotional quality of this chakra is security and grounding, the desire for salt can reflect an emotional need in this sense. In the Ayurvedic tradition, salt strengthens personal energy.
Clearly we are referring to a moderate consumption of salt and if we consider that most industrial and processed products are extremely rich in salt and salty condiments, maintaining a moderate consumption is not always easy. More or less like what happens with sugar and sweeteners.
It is not so much the ingredient itself that can be harmful, on the contrary, it is the use we make of it that presents a potential risk, especially if we are not aware of what we are buying and bringing to the table or of the transformations that are carried out in the kitchen.
There are different types of salt, we will focus on the one we use in our fermentations: whole sea salt.
Whole sea salt has been used for millennia by populations around the world, and is a very different salt than the refined salt commonly found on our tables.
Whole sea salt is not subjected to refining processes, is not added with anti-caking chemicals, bleaching agents or iodine and is naturally rich in minerals, nutrients and trace elements.
This richness makes it particularly suitable for fermentations, especially of vegetables, because it promotes the growth of good bacteria and probiotics, while iodine and therefore iodized salt inhibits it as it has antibacterial properties.
Whole sea salt is also excellent for everyday cooking and we prefer it to other salts.
Returning to our fermentations, two of the fundamental parameters are the salt concentration and the fermentation time and the salt concentration is one of the most important factors for the success of a fermentation, because it is thanks to the salt that the conditions are created so that only beneficial microorganisms proliferate.
In fermentation processes we can use salt mainly in two ways, dry salting and brine.
Dry salting fermentation consists of adding a specific percentage of salt to vegetables which, thanks to a vigorous massage, extracts the liquid contained by osmosis, this technique is typical of sauerkraut but can be used for many other vegetables by cutting them into thin slices. The brine obtained during dry salting is very rich and tasty and is made up entirely of the liquid that was naturally present in the vegetable.
The brine fermentation, on the other hand, consists of creating the brine liquid through the use of water and a specific percentage of salt, the vegetables will then be left to ferment in this liquid. Usually with this method, vegetables with coarser cuts are fermented.
A great advantage of including fermented vegetables or even fermented condiments in your diet is that they can also be used instead of salt, being already tasty, they can be added to dishes (even raw, like a salad) and make them tasty, fermented foods are not only tasty, but are rich in many flavors, which make the dishes very appetizing. The fermentation processes are a sort of pre-digestion by microorganisms, and this makes not only the flavors more perceptible but also the nutrients more easily available, including salt and trace elements.
We also want to tell you another salt story...
VIVI ferments is located in Salsomaggiore Terme, where the connection with salt is very ancient. Many years ago the sea that extended here to the Apennines, began to retreat and in the subsoil waters with a high mineral concentration were preserved, "Salso Maiore" was therefore a mining village, for centuries a real "salina", until it became the "village of salt", even the Castles that rise in the surroundings of Salsomaggiore had the task of defending the precious salt pans and it is no coincidence that in these places the production of parmesan cheese and cured meats is flourishing, of which salt is one of the fundamental ingredients in the seasoning. Only in the recent past, when the production of salt was abandoned, the therapeutic virtues of the waters were also discovered, made rich by the great concentration of minerals, and so from Borgo del sale, Salsomaggiore has become one of the Villes d'Eaux, among the most famous, established and elegant in Europe.
So we at Salsomaggiore are a good mix of salt and water... there is no better place to ferment our vegetables!
To write this article we were inspired by
Healthy Food by Paul Pitchford - Enea Editions
Fermenting Vegetables by Flavio Sacco - Enea Editions
Visitalsomaggiore.it
(Cassiodorus, 523 AD).
Salt is a very important ingredient for fermentation, if not fundamental.
But in general, salt is a fundamental ingredient in cooking, both as a flavoring and as a preservative.
And, strange as it may sound, salt is very important for your health.
Certainly its discovery and use were also fundamental in human evolution.
In recent years, especially in the West, this mineral, also commonly known as sodium chloride, has been much denigrated, often unfairly.
Sodium chloride is a fundamental compound for life on Earth, salt is contained in the tissues and fluids of living beings. Whole sea salt has a mineral profile similar to that of our blood.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, salt (intended as whole and natural), nourishes the kidneys, has clarifying, alkalizing, purifying and centering qualities, strengthens digestion, and promotes intestinal mobility. The Canon of Internal Medicine states that salt tones the heart and mind. Salt has descending qualities and connects to our root chakra, the emotional quality of this chakra is security and grounding, the desire for salt can reflect an emotional need in this sense. In the Ayurvedic tradition, salt strengthens personal energy.
Clearly we are referring to a moderate consumption of salt and if we consider that most industrial and processed products are extremely rich in salt and salty condiments, maintaining a moderate consumption is not always easy. More or less like what happens with sugar and sweeteners.
It is not so much the ingredient itself that can be harmful, on the contrary, it is the use we make of it that presents a potential risk, especially if we are not aware of what we are buying and bringing to the table or of the transformations that are carried out in the kitchen.
There are different types of salt, we will focus on the one we use in our fermentations: whole sea salt.
Whole sea salt has been used for millennia by populations around the world, and is a very different salt than the refined salt commonly found on our tables.
Whole sea salt is not subjected to refining processes, is not added with anti-caking chemicals, bleaching agents or iodine and is naturally rich in minerals, nutrients and trace elements.
This richness makes it particularly suitable for fermentations, especially of vegetables, because it promotes the growth of good bacteria and probiotics, while iodine and therefore iodized salt inhibits it as it has antibacterial properties.
Whole sea salt is also excellent for everyday cooking and we prefer it to other salts.
Returning to our fermentations, two of the fundamental parameters are the salt concentration and the fermentation time and the salt concentration is one of the most important factors for the success of a fermentation, because it is thanks to the salt that the conditions are created so that only beneficial microorganisms proliferate.
In fermentation processes we can use salt mainly in two ways, dry salting and brine.
Dry salting fermentation consists of adding a specific percentage of salt to vegetables which, thanks to a vigorous massage, extracts the liquid contained by osmosis, this technique is typical of sauerkraut but can be used for many other vegetables by cutting them into thin slices. The brine obtained during dry salting is very rich and tasty and is made up entirely of the liquid that was naturally present in the vegetable.
The brine fermentation, on the other hand, consists of creating the brine liquid through the use of water and a specific percentage of salt, the vegetables will then be left to ferment in this liquid. Usually with this method, vegetables with coarser cuts are fermented.
A great advantage of including fermented vegetables or even fermented condiments in your diet is that they can also be used instead of salt, being already tasty, they can be added to dishes (even raw, like a salad) and make them tasty, fermented foods are not only tasty, but are rich in many flavors, which make the dishes very appetizing. The fermentation processes are a sort of pre-digestion by microorganisms, and this makes not only the flavors more perceptible but also the nutrients more easily available, including salt and trace elements.
We also want to tell you another salt story...
VIVI ferments is located in Salsomaggiore Terme, where the connection with salt is very ancient. Many years ago the sea that extended here to the Apennines, began to retreat and in the subsoil waters with a high mineral concentration were preserved, "Salso Maiore" was therefore a mining village, for centuries a real "salina", until it became the "village of salt", even the Castles that rise in the surroundings of Salsomaggiore had the task of defending the precious salt pans and it is no coincidence that in these places the production of parmesan cheese and cured meats is flourishing, of which salt is one of the fundamental ingredients in the seasoning. Only in the recent past, when the production of salt was abandoned, the therapeutic virtues of the waters were also discovered, made rich by the great concentration of minerals, and so from Borgo del sale, Salsomaggiore has become one of the Villes d'Eaux, among the most famous, established and elegant in Europe.
So we at Salsomaggiore are a good mix of salt and water... there is no better place to ferment our vegetables!
To write this article we were inspired by
Healthy Food by Paul Pitchford - Enea Editions
Fermenting Vegetables by Flavio Sacco - Enea Editions
Visitalsomaggiore.it