Ferment

Fermented Gazpacho
Do you ever think about what would be on your dream dinner party menu? In many of my scribbled plans, I return to this dish. It’s familiar, bright and complex, and would be served as a canapé – in shot glasses – since all dream dinner parties start with canapés. This is such a summery dish and as it’s so fresh (despite the fermented elements), you definitely want to go for the best quality ingredients you can find – this is true for the tomatoes as well as the extra virgin olive oil.

And lastly, do yourself a favour and keep all of the leftover brine in a new (and smaller) jar. This brine could be used to kickstart a new ferment or as a strong essence of tomato for recipes: I’ve been using it in salad dressings and a martini is calling its name (see Tomatini, ).

PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES

Serves 2–3

1 recipe of Gazpacho Cherry Tomatoes (see )

1 cucumber, about 200g, peeled and cut into 5cm (2in) chunks

60ml extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

salt and pepper

To serve

fresh dill

diced cucumber

extra virgin olive oil

Special equipment: food processor or blender

Strain the vegetables from the fermented tomatoes, reserving the fermented brine. Put the strained vegetables and cucumber into a food processor or blender and blitz to your desired consistency. I prefer it slightly chunky.

Add the olive oil, white wine vinegar and 60–80ml of the reserved brine (the smaller quantity will make a thicker gazpacho), give it a good stir, adjust the seasoning (salt and pepper) if needed, and serve.

For a really cold gazpacho, transfer it to the fridge for an hour or add a few ice cubes to each bowl.

Garnish with fresh dill, diced cucumber and a healthy glug of extra virgin olive oil. This can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for 2–3 days.

GAZPACHO CHERRY TOMATOES
Lactofermented cherry tomatoes are some of the best (and easiest) ferments you can make. There’s something very special about biting into a fermented tomato: a burst of sweet and sour tang with a slight sparkly effervescence that just sings summer.

This ferment follows the wet brining process outlined . Here, I’ve leaned into the flavours of a gazpacho so have added complementary flavours in red pepper, red onion, chilli, black peppercorns and fresh dill. You can change up the ingredients or spices but remember to calculate the salt percentage based on the total weight of the ingredients and water.

These pickles and brine are the star of my Fermented Gazpacho (see ) and are particularly delicious in my Tomatini cocktail (see ). Keep any surplus brine for tomato sauces, a Bloody Mary or dressings for summer salads.

PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES | FERMENTATION TIME: 5–7 DAYS

Makes a 1.5 litre jar

450g cherry tomatoes, left whole

5 garlic cloves, peeled

1 red pepper (about 200g), deseeded and thinly sliced

1 small red onion (about 100g), peeled, cut in half and thinly sliced

1 mild chilli pepper (about 10g), deseeded and roughly chopped

2 tsp black peppercorns

3–4 sprigs of fresh dill

measured salt: 3.5% of the total weight of above ingredients and water

Find a jar that will hold all of the ingredients (apart from the salt). Put this onto your kitchen scales and zero it out. Fill the jar with the vegetables, spices, herbs and water and take a note of the total weight. (It is usually best to add a bit more water as this will help to keep what you’re fermenting below the brine.) Calculate 3.5% of the total weight of the vegetables and water. This is the amount of salt you will need. Add the salt to the jar, close the jar and shake to dissolve.

Use a food-safe fermentation weight to hold down any floating vegetable pieces. Remember that anything above the brine could attract unwanted yeast or mould.

Ferment at room temperature for 5–7 days. When you notice the signs of fermentation (see ), taste the tomatoes: they should be tangy and effervescent. Move them to the fridge for long-term storage – they should keep for several months as long as they stay below the brine. In my opinion, these are best eaten when they’re lightly fermented, both in terms of flavour and texture.

Kimchi Bloody Mary
As with all of the cocktails in this section, the complexity in flavours comes from the ferment in question. By first blitzing the ingredients (including the whole kimchi) and then straining the liquid, you get all of the flavour for this Bloody Mary. While this recipe uses both the brine and the kimchi, it doesn’t matter too much if you do not have a ton of kimchi brine on hand. I generally use a cabbage-based kimchi, but the rhubarb and cherry tomato versions are also bloody delicious!

PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES

Serves 1, in a highball glass

60ml vodka

100ml tomato juice

25g kimchi

20ml kimchi brine

15ml lemon juice

dash of Tabasco

dash of fish sauce

pinch of celery salt

ice

garnishes of choice (see method)

Special equipment: blender

Put all the ingredients (except the ice and garnishes) into a blender and blitz to extract all the flavour from the kimchi. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Strain into an ice-filled highball glass and add your garnishes.

My suggested garnish is a skewer of one piece of kimchi, a slice of Sour Dill Pickle (see ), a slice of Quick Pickled Red Onions (see ), a fermented cherry tomato (see ) and a lemon wedge. Instead of the skewer you could go classic and add a celery stick.