BASIC FERMENTATION Basic Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz (Newsouth Books, $29.99, available now) This basic beginner’s guide to fermenting just about anything at home might seem like a mind-numbing topic, but worldrenowned fermenter Katz succeeds in revealing that fermentation is everywhere. From beer and wine, bread and yoghurt, miso, sauerkraut, tempeh and countless other exotic delicacies…yeast and bacteria are in every breath we take and every bite we eat. Try as you might to get rid of them with anti-bacterial soap and antibiotic drugs, Katz says, it’s futile. “These microbial cultures populate our digestive tracts and play a critical role in breaking down the food we eat. They are ubiquitous agents of transformation, feasting upon decaying matter, constantly shifting dynamic life forces from one miraculous and horrible creation to the next. We humans are in a symbolic relationship with these microscopic living beings. Without them, life could not be sustained.” In the book, Katz explains simple methods for a variety of fermented foods via ancient rituals, including chocolate, kimchi and injera. While he’s not a scientist, Katz says neither is he someone who wants to live in sterile environments… instead he lives deep in the woods of rural Tennessee ‘off the grid’, and cooks in the communal kitchen of Short Mountain Sanctuary with 20 other people on a wood stove with no thermostat. Fermentation, he says, is one answer to the gut health difficulties of modern generations. www.foodtechnology.co.nz 17 DATE PASTE – A NATURAL SUGAR ALTERNATIVE Finding alternatives for sugar is a priority for many food manufacturers, and now there is a single ingredient that is not only natural, it’s loaded with health benefits too. Date Paste is a 100% natural sweetener produced from dates that have been cleaned, pitted and washed. The fruits are extruded through multiple fine screens, leaving a soft brown puree texture. As well as being natural, date paste has an amazing nutritional profile. It is an excellent source of fibre, and is peanut, gluten and GMO free. As a replacement for sucrose, date paste adds important minerals, vitamins, fibre and healthful plant compounds called phenolics. Date paste has been consumed for millennia in a variety of foods around the world. Today, date paste can be used by the food industry as a filling for pastries and biscuits, and as a healthier substitute for sugar in cereals, puddings, baked goods, energy bars, ice cream and confectionery. Date paste also adds flavour and sweetness to salad dressings, marinades, glazes and smoothies. This fine paste improves the taste of the foods it helps make, with notes of caramel, brown sugar and vanilla, and is made in a way that preserves all the nutrients and goodness of dates. It is free from pits, pit fragments or calyxes and has zero tolerance for any foreign material. No anti-oxidants, additives, sulphating agents or artificial flavours are used in the process. Common health problems – including heart disease, diabetes and arthritis – are associated with inflammation in the body. Antioxidants, particularly polyphenols from fruit, have been shown to directly neutralise free radicals and possibly reduce the damage caused by inflammation. Among commonly consumed whole fresh fruits, dates rank high in antioxidant polyphenols. Dates in their various formats, including whole and chopped dates, paste and syrup can now be supplied to the New Zealand food industry by James Crisp Ltd. SUGAR SUMMER A Waikato University study has found that sugary drinks in New Zealand contain proportionally more sugar than their overseas counterparts, highlighting the need for government intervention to protect communities. The average drink here contains five to six teaspoons across soft drinks and juices, compared with three to four teaspoons in British drinks, and Māori public health organisation Hāpai Te Hauora says the damage the drinks are doing to the health of whanau is highlighted in its Fizz Free Whānau Challenge. “This sugar content represents a major threat to health, with sugary drinks being a key driver of obesity, dental problems and other health issues,” campaign manager Kera Sherwood- O’Regan says. “I wish we could say we’re surprised by SUGAR STUDY these research findings, but I think we need to go beyond looking at the ingredients of fizzy drinks and start looking at the ingredients in a system that has enabled these drinks, and indeed these companies, to take so much from our communities. Many whānau are absolutely hooked on these drinks - suffering headaches and withdrawal symptoms while trying to give them up - yet these drinks that can do so much harm are all around the place - in stores, on billboards and shopfronts, represented as some kind of essential component of the kiwi summer. This really highlights the need for stronger regulation at the central government level, as well as community-based policies to support whānau who want to make positive choices for their health.” BOOK REVIEW Bernadette Pither from Cryovac Sealed Air will receive a copy of this book.
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