Heal your gut for healthier mind and body the Mexican way
Traditional homemade ferments, super delicious
Do you want to improve your digestion, your brain... and even your mood? Don't look in the pharmacy: look in your kitchen.
Hippocrates, the father of medicine declared that "Health Begins in the Intestine", and if you consult with a nutrition specialist he will most likely recommend the classic ferments such as miso, kimchi and tempeh. However, there are others that are less known but equally good and delicious. You just have to look for the ingredients in a supermarket that sells Mexican products and you can include them in your breakfast, lunch or to refresh yourself when you feel thirsty.
Learn how to make 4 ferments that heal, nourish and are easy to prepare. You're sure to at least find one that you can incorporate into your diet to heal your gut and improve the rest of your body and mind.
🥤Tepache. It is a fermented drink of pre-Hispanic origin of pineapple and piloncillo, very popular in Mexico.
Wash the pineapple, peel it. Put the pineapple peel in a glass jar
1 liter of water
1 cone of piloncillo or panela (preferred) or muscovado sugar if you can't find it.
Cloves, cinnamon, to taste
Cover with a towel and leave to ferment for 2–3 days, depending on temperature
Strain and enjoy with ice cubes or crushed ice.
Tips: use a glass container or jug, cover close to the sun, taste every day until it reaches the desired acidity. Stop fermentation by putting it in the refrigerator, it can last a maximum of a week. If you leave it any longer it will turn into vinegar and you will have to throw it away. If you want, you can use the same husks for a second fermentation, although it will be a little milder.
Ideal to accompany antojitos, enchiladas and tacos.
🌽Tejuino. Fermented corn drink typical of western Mexico that was considered sacred.
This recipe is from a Mexican scientist who studies traditional ferments. Use: 200 g of dough, 400 g of piloncillo and 1 liter of water, but you can adapt it according to your taste.
Corn dough (you can buy it at the tortilla shop or make it with nixtamalized flour by mixing with water)
In a blender, dissolve the dough and filter it. Then you cook it in a pot on the fire to make a kind of atole, stirring constantly.
When it thickens you put the piloncillo, when it dissolves the mixture becomes dark.
Let it cool to room temperature uncovered, so that it interacts with the environment and impregnates with microorganisms for about 1 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Ferment by covering with a cloth for 1 to 2 days, depending on the weather, until it smells a little acidic and you see the bubbling.
Refrigerate. Before serving, add the juice of 1 or 2 lemons. The typical thing is to "weave" the drink, passing it from one glass to the other to mix well. If you want to make it more festive, you can add a scoop of lemon ice cream.
🥣Vegan yogurt (not from traditional cuisine, but very popular)
Heat 1 liter of vegetable milk over low heat, either oatmeal, cashew/cashew/cashew, almond, soy or a combination (I advise you to include at least a little bit of cashews, as it gives it a delicious creaminess). Before it boils, remove it from the heat.
Let it cool slightly and add 2 tablespoons of natural yogurt with live cultures. Do not add to boiling milk because you would kill the microorganisms. If you don't have live yogurt cultures you can buy a probiotic with several billion bacteria at the pharmacy, just a vial or two capsules.
Leave as an incubation for 12 to 24 hours in a warm place to ferment, if it is cold, it may take longer.
You should use a glass jar and a wooden spoon and be careful not to taste and put your spoon back in the yogurt so as not to introduce microorganisms that compete and kill the yogurt bacilli. Wrap in a towel, avoid moving.
Excellent option to start your day, you can add banana, blueberries or raisins or sweet fruits so that you do not feel the need to sweeten it artificially. You can also sprinkle pistachios, cinnamon, or any seeds you have.
🥬 Fermented Vegetables (grandma's base recipe)
I recommend cabbage, carrots, cauliflower or broccoli, or use your favorite vegetable either alone or in combination, or cucumbers if you want it for burgers.
Add salt (2% of the total weight) For a liter of water use two tablespoons of sea salt. NOTE: do not use seasoned or iodated salts for best results.
Wash the vegetables perfectly with filtered water and soak for 10 min. in water with a tablespoon of baking soda, this to remove pesticides if they are not organic. In all recipes, it is crucial to have clean hands and utensils so as not to contaminate the ferment. Place in a jar that seals tightly and let it ferment for 5–7 days in a dark place. Every 24 to 48 hours, open the lid a little to let out the gas that is forming.
Tip: press the vegetables so that everything is submerged in the brine. You can cover the preparation with a cabbage leaf, as the fermentation is anaerobic you want no air to remain in the container and cover.
Excellent for digestion, use it as a garnish, accompanying rice, tacos, in sandwiches or in a stew to which you want to add a salty touch.
Try to incorporate more whole plant-based foods into your diet and gradually reduce meats and ultra-processed foods. Mother Nature has given us everything to nourish and heal us, so we also have to take care of her because there is no human health without a healthy planet.
