Fermented Salsa

Lately, I've had a few blog posts about Fermented Food.

If you spent any time at all on this blog, you realize that I brew lots of beer. I've also tried my hand in Mead and Cider making.

I obviously am into fermenting beverages ... but I am also fascinated by the process of fermenting food.

Fascinated.

It sort of blows my mind that by introducing bacteria, a food transforms from something very perishable into something that can last longer term.

Also, the whole health aspect of probiotics is very interesting. I read all the time how healthy with little buggers are. I hope this is a real thing, because the amount of probiotics I eat is quite a lot.

I've been making Yogurt for about two years now. I make and eat a lot of that.

For almost two years, I've been fermenting my own homemade Sauerkraut and Jalapeno Kraut.

More recently, I shared that I made some Fermented Zucchini.

My kids have also expressed interest in making cheese, which I think would be fun to get into.

The other day, I was surfing the web about things to ferment, and I came across a "recipe" for "Fermented Salsa".

This particular recipe was basically ...

1. Buy Fresh Salsa.
2. Introduce bacteria.
3. Ferment for a few days.

Buying Fresh Salsa seems dumb to me, so I bought a bunch of tomatoes, peppers, and other salsa-type ingredients.

I made one jar manually chopping up the veggies and putting them in the mason jar.

I combined ingredients in a food-processor for another jar and put those in another jar.

Then, I added some whey from the last time I made yogurt into each jar, covered them with air-locks and let them sit for a few days.

After 3 days, I took a little taste every day. At about day 6 I put my jars in the fridge to stop fermentation.

The salsa tastes good. Basically it is very much like fresh salsa. It is a bit more tart, but not a whole lot.

Unfortunately, the salsa isn't very spicy. I think this just means I should add spicier peppers and more cilantro next time I make it.

I've had both on chips. I also tried some of the blended batch on a baked potato. I put the chunky batch on brats. I really like the chunky batch on brats and think it would go well on burgers too.

I will be making fermented salsa again. Next time I will make it more spicy. I'll throw in Jalapenos. I'll add more cilantro.

I think this will be something I make regularly.