Here is another post about getting cultured the old fashioned way – with bacteria. In part one of the series, I shared information about Kombucha, a fermented tea. This time I’ll cover another DIY cultured beverage, kefir.
Kefir is one of the oldest cultured dairy products known, originating in the Caucasus Mountains, where it was made with goat’s milk. It is an enzyme-rich food filled with friendly micro-organisms that help balance your inner ecosystem. The taste is similar to yogurt, but tangier.
While yogurt usually contains only two or three strains of bacteria, kefir has a wide variety, including beneficial yeasts that can break down lactose, the sugar found in milk. Many people who have a hard time digesting milk can happily drink kefir. It is very nourishing for pregnant and nursing women, and those with compromised immune systems. It is recommended to restore digestive flora after taking antibiotics.
I love drinking kefir straight, but many people find it too sour by itself. You can make it into a delicious smoothie by adding fruits, honey, vanilla or other flavors or sweeteners. Kefir with frozen bananas, strawberries or blueberries is so good kids even like it. You can also make a creamy salad dressing out of kefir, or use it instead of sour cream on potatoes.
Kefir is available plain and flavored with fruit at most health food stores now, including Whole Foods in Glendale, and Wild Oats in Pasadena. I tried the Helios brand and found it very good. They have some tasty sounding recipes on their site.
If you are not used to drinking kefir, don’t drink a lot at once. Try a cup in the morning and see how your body likes it. A sudden super dose of probiotics may throw your digestion out of whack.
Kefir is simple and inexpensive to make at home. To do it, you need kefir grains - small yellowish white globs, which, like the kombucha SCOBY, are whole little neighborhoods of bacteria and yeasts. They multiply as they do their work of transforming the milk, so when it’s done, you have more than when you started. Then you can share the grains with other culture lovers.
How to make Kefir
1. Put a spoonful of grains into a sanitized glass jar. Fill about 2/3 full of fresh pasteurized milk, and cover loosely with a cloth or unscrewed lid.
2. Let sit in a warm but not hot place for 12 to 36 hours. Keep out of direct sunlight. The longer it ferments, the more sour it will be and the more folic acid (vitamin B9) it will have. Taste test along the way to see what you like best.
3. Pour the mixture through cheesecloth or a sieve, collect the grains and save the kefir to drink.
You can make kefir from the milk of cows, goats, sheep, rice, soy or coconut. A friend of mine even makes it from organic grape juice and the result is sparkling, slightly alcoholic and delicious! Note – you can kefir any liquid with sugars in it, but if it is nondairy, the grains will not grow, they need the milk to do that.
Finding kefir grains has gotten much easier in the last couple of years, as many DIY culture mavens are willing to give away their extras. I got my first batch about a year ago from a fellow homeschooling mom. I used them many times in organic coconut milk, and the kefir was like a pudding dessert. Yum. My last batch came from posting a request on the Northeast LA Food Coop Yahoo group.
There is a very active online group dedicated to kefir making, where much sharing of grains and information occurs. GEM Cultures, based in Fort Bragg, sells the grains for $20. Their site will open your eyes to the wide variety of cultured foods humans have come up with over the centuries.
Worldchanging blogger Amy Shaw recently wrote, "Craft is radical, craft is worldchanging, and craft has been with us all along." I fully agree, and to me, craft includes cultured foods and other homegrown, homebrewed, homecooked foods.
[photos by hjselde and mfcorwin]
