UNLEASH FLAVOUR NOMA-STYLE
Transform cooking with fermentation techniques from chefs at legendary Copenhagen restaurant
Fermented foods are intrinsic to the human experience. So much so that typically, we don’t give their origins much thought.
The fermented products that punctuate our days — like coffee, tea, bread, cheese, soy sauce, miso, beer and wine — are cultural cornerstones. And cultivating practical knowledge of the process that underpins them can enrich your life and completely transform your cooking.
In a time when so many things are fast and only picking up speed, fermentation is slow. If you’re patient enough to wait for the microbes to carry out their work, you’ll be rewarded with foods that have a depth of flavour you simply can’t achieve any other way.
“It’s an incredible analogue experience in a very digitalized world. And I think that’s one of the reasons why food is having such a moment because people are yearning for things they can actually feel in a different way,” says René Redzepi, chef and co-owner of Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark.
“Cooking has that — touching things, touching ingredients — and I think fermentation is definitely a step further … Nobody today would start downloading anything that takes seven days, right? But there’s nothing you can do, (you just have to) wait.”
In The Noma Guide to Fermentation (Artisan Books, 2018), Redzepi and co-author, David Zilber, director of the restaurant’s fermentation lab, offer an indispensable glimpse into how the four-time world’s best restaurant approaches fermented foods, all adapted for the home kitchen.
“The book is written to be doable,” says Zilber, adding that editor and writer Martha Holmberg tested all of the recipes in her studio apartment. “We had to find ways that people could do this in their homes. There’s a photo of my lab in the introduction where you can see how crazy (it) actually looks. There are walls of equipment, and of course there’s nothing in the book that requires any of that equipment.”
If you’re new to fermentation, the following recipes may seem daunting at first glance. However, once you’ve crafted your first ferment, you’ll understand how intuitive the method is and how applicable it is to limitless raw ingredients.
And if safety is a concern, rest assured that people have been fermenting since ancient times. The authors offer a clear and thorough overview of the process, including the principles behind encouraging desirable microbes and blocking unwanted ones, and best practices for maintaining a clean fermentation space.
The techniques and recipes for lacto-ferments, kombuchas, vinegars, koji, misos, shoyus, garums, and black fruits and vegetables represent the basis of every one of Noma’s dishes.
At the restaurant, Redzepi says, fermentation isn’t used for one particular flavour but rather to make everything better. The book underscores the immense value in not only making your own ferments but also applying them in innovative ways.
“That’s how Noma cooks. That’s how Noma does what it does; it layers all these flavours,” says Zilber. “Everyone calls it The Noma Guide to Fermentation, but its actual title is Foundations of Flavour because that’s what these things are: building blocks upon which you craft a symphony.”
BUTTERNUT SQUASH VINEGAR Makes: about 8 cups (2 L)
8 lbs 12 oz (4 kg) butternut squash Unpasteurized butternut squash vinegar, or another unpasteurized mild vinegar such as apple cider vinegar 80-proof neutral grain spirit ( like vodka)
Equipment notes:
1. You’ll need a juicer, a foodgrade plastic bucket or widemouthed jar with at least a 12-cup (3-L) capacity, and an air pump and air stone (a piece of porous rock or metal that diffuses air in small bubbles; find both in the aquarium section of
any pet store). You’ll also want a breathable kitchen towel along with rubber bands to secure it to the top of your fermentation vessel. We recommend that you wear sterile gloves when working with your hands, and that all your equipment be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized.
2. Wash the squash, cut them in half, seed them and cut into manageable pieces, leaving the skin on. Wearing gloves, put the squash through the juicer. Strain the juice through a fine-mesh sieve. Weigh it and pour it into the fermentation vessel.
3. Backslop (see note) the juice with 23.4 per cent of its weight in unpasteurized vinegar. Calculate 20 per cent of the total weight of the juice and vinegar and add that much 80-proof spirit.
4. Place the air stone in the liquid so it rests on the bottom of the vessel and run the hose out the top to the air pump. Cover the vessel with cheesecloth or a breathable kitchen towel and secure with a rubber band. Tape over the gap left by the hose and turn on the pump.
5. Ferment the butternut squash vinegar for 10 to 14 days, tasting frequently during the home stretch. If the juice foams during the first few days, turn off the air pump for a bit or stir the foam back into the juice.
6. When you can no longer taste the alcohol and the vinegar is enjoyably acidic, strain it through cheesecloth. Store in capped bottles in the refrigerator to keep the flavours as fresh as possible, though the vinegar is perfectly shelf stable as long as it’s not exposed to air. The bright orange colour will fade over time.
Note: Backslopping preps microbial environments for fermentation by giving them a boost of beneficial microbes — a dose from a previous batch of that same ferment.
SUGGESTED USES:
Slow-cooked carrots
Find some nice carrots — not the monstrous horse carrots you might use for stock. Peel and slice them however you like — into thin strips or on a bias — or leave them whole. You’ll need a digital kitchen scale to make these recipes.
The authors use the metric system “because it allows for much greater precision and accuracy than Imperial measurements.”
And use weight rather than volume. “Stick your empty bowl on a scale, tare it and add the ingredient until you’ve reached the desired weight. No need to move ingredients between measuring cups and a work bowl.”
Melt a big knob of butter in a pan over low heat and slowly caramelize the carrots in a single layer — as in, really slowly, with the butter gently foaming and bubbling. Turn the carrots every 6 or 7 minutes for anywhere between 30 and 50 minutes (depending on what your idea of low heat is).
If you’ve done it correctly, the carrots should take on a caramelized colour and texture reminiscent of golden raisins. When they’re almost there, turn the heat up a tiny bit and add a touch of salt and one spoonful of squash vinegar for every two or three carrots.
You want just enough liquid to coat the carrots lightly, giving them a kick of acidity and another dimension of flavour. This technique works great for other vegetables, too — anything that takes well to slow cooking.
Quick pickles
You can try this with any crunchy fruit or vegetable you’d enjoy eating raw, but let’s use a cucumber as an example. Slice the cucumber into thin (1/8-inch/3-mm) coins and season the slices lightly with salt, letting them marinate in a bowl for about 10 minutes before covering with butternut squash vinegar.
Stir everything around to ensure even coverage, adding a bit of red pepper flakes for heat, if you like. Do this about an hour before dinner and they’ll be perfectly pickled by the time you’re sitting down to eat.
One other thing we love to pickle with butternut squash vinegar is chanterelle mushrooms. In a skillet, lightly sauté cleaned mushrooms in as little oil as possible, making sure they’re cooked but not mushy.
Let them cool down on a plate, then transfer to a glass jar. Cover with twice their volume in vinegar (they’ll soak up a fair bit of it) and seal the jar tightly.
They’ll be delicious by the next day, but the pickles will last several months in the refrigerator. If you take the canning process a step further and process the jars using the boiling water bath method, the pickles will last even longer — 6 months to a year in a cool dark place. They’re a perfect condiment alongside roast chicken or fish and make a great gift.