Lacto-Fermented Garlic

If you are a garlic lover and/or have any trouble digesting raw garlic, you must try this recipe!

Here’s another recipe from from my pre-Gerson, forgot-to-post collection! Fermented garlic. Sounds weird, doesn’t it? Well theres a few very good reasons to give this a go.

1. You can eat this raw – it has all of that delicious garlic flavour without the sharp bite of regular raw garlic – kind of like roasted garlic. Little garlic snacks!

2. It has all of that probiotic goodness from the fermentation process.

3. It is easily digested for anyone who has problems with raw garlic.

And I promise, lacto-fermentation is not nearly as complicated or scary as it sounds. It’s the same thing we do when we make sauerkraut. It’s super easy – no special ingredients or gadgets needed. It’s simply mixing up a brine, adding the vegetable, and keeping it submerged for the amount of time needed (the time differs for different vegetables).

So how do you use the finished lacto-fermented garlic? You can use it in hummus, salsa, dips, dressings, snack on it, slice it up and put into salads or make my delicious Parsley Garlic Punch Pesto with it. So many ways!

PS. If you’re looking for even more lacto-fermented or cultured recipes check out my eBook Living on the Vedge. It includes recipes for Coconut Yogurt, Almond Feta Cheese, Sauerkraut and even traditional Dill Pickles!

Lacto-Fermented Garlic

 

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All the yum garlic flavour without the sharp bite - and fully of healthy probiotics! You can use it in hummus, salsa, dips, dressings, snack on it, slice it up and put into salads or make my delicious Parsley Garlic Punch Pesto with it. So many ways!

Ingredients:

• 4 bulbs/heads organic garlic
• ½ Tbsp - 1 Tbsp salt
• 1 cup filtered water
• 1 Tbsp pickling spice (optional)

Method:

1. In a clean (fresh out of dishwasher is great) 1 pint jar, combine the water and salt to make a brine - stir with a wooden spoon until the salt dissolves.
2. Carefully peel the garlic, leaving knobby end in tact (don't chop it off). You can try this trick here to peel it faster (but it never works for me!).
3. Add the garlic cloves and pickling spice to the jar with the salt bring and stir to dissolve.
4. Now you will need to find a way to keep the garlic submerged under the brine the entire time - you don't want the garlic touching air. I sometimes use a smaller jar filled with water to weigh it down. Sometimes I use a pestle from a pestle & mortar. You can also use a leaf like cabbage or kale underneath that to make sure none escape up the side of the jar.
5. Then throw a clean tea towel over the top to make sure no dust or pests get in. Store somewhere out of sunlight and allow to ferment for 4 weeks. It can ferment longer, but at 4 weeks you can start eating them. Then you can store them in the fridge, which halts the fermentation process.

Notes:

Sometimes the garlic turns a blue or green color - perfectly safe and normal.

You must use organic garlic and filtered water - any chemicals such as pesticides, chlorine or fluride will interfere with the fermentation process. You need the bacteria in the garlic to make fermentation occur.

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