Fermented Sweetheart

For the week that's in it!

Welcome back my friends! And to all my new subscribers - welcome to the party! Thank you for joining my kitchen and fueling my frolics.

If you missed my live demo last week, here’s a summary of what we covered - the easiest and most delicious of all kraut recipes. It also happens to be the quickest one too. (Fun fact: red cabbage can take 400% longer to massage than today’s sweetheart cabbage. So we used sweetheart!).

A quick recap …

Lacto-fermented foods such as this sweetheart kraut recipe, teeming with beneficial microorganisms, will help feed the good bacteria in our gut. Yahtzee!

At any one time, your gut can contain over 2kg of bacteria. You are hosting an opera in your pipes. This is our microbiota – an inner metropolis where the good guys are constantly trying to crowd out the nasty challengers. I like to think of good bacteria as my body’s little army, complete with anti-aircraft artillery.

Fermented foods have been scientifically proven to boost gut microbial diversity, decrease inflammation and improve immune system function (resulting in a reduced likelihood of developing various diseases).

For more on this, I highly recommend the following list of podcast episodes I compiled, especially the one with Dr & Dr Sonnenburg at Stanford. The Sonnenburgs delve into the nitty gritty of why our gut health affects our immune response, our weight, our mental health and much more. If you're suffering from chronic constipation, bloating or industrial gas, your gut ain't happy. And neither are you.

The great news is that you can do something about it. Fermented foods like kraut, plain yoghurt and next week's kimchi recipe can help restore the microbial balance inside our gut. Plus, they are staggeringly tasty. And cheap to make.