In our attempt to feed ourselves with the fresh foods that surround us, preferably organic and locally grown, we have some challenges that we have not yet been able to overcome. Among them, what I personally have the most difficulty with is finding a way to make homemade vegetable yogurts and cheeses from homemade vegetable milks. That is, finding the right vegetable fermenter (or probiotic), since traditional yogurt of animal origin is not suitable for fermenting vegetable milk.
After several failed attempts, we managed to develop a recipe for homemade soy yogurt in which after trying sachets of probiotic powders without good results, we managed to make it using purchased organic soy yogurt. In this link you have the recipe.
However, we did not feel satisfied and we decided to continue testing until we found a natural and homemade vegetable fermenter that would allow us to make yogurt and cheese at home without having to resort to the help of an industrial yogurt.
Of course, we went to the internet and read recipes for yogurts and vegetable cheeses until we were sick. In most of them, thickeners such as “agar-agar” seaweed are used, which provides texture but is not a fermenting food (we will soon release a recipe for your reference). In other recipes, industrial probiotics are added (which haven’t worked very well for me)…
At the BioFach Fair in Nuremberg (Germany), I asked left and right at the cheese and vegetable yogurt stands, without any success. I looked at the ingredients of the products they sold to see if I could find any clue. But the treatment they give them is too industrial for my taste.
At the same time, our English distributor directed me to some articles related to the subject that talk about using kefir water or failing that, an enzymatic water made from sprouts that they call “rejuvelac”.… then I knew that, at least, there is the option of making natural homemade probiotics/fermenters.
The other day at the Consumer Association to which I belong, I found a small book, just a few pages long, but full of practical recipes and advice related to food sovereignty, which makes it a great treasure. It is written by Dawamoru (https://dawamoru.blogspot.com.es/) and is titled “Wild, edible and creative. Recipe book for food sovereignty.” It is written from one’s own experience, with a lot of care and love, which is appreciated. It is very precise and clear in its explanations and covers different dimensions of daily life. It tells us which common herbs are edible, it delights us with very nutritious and sovereign recipes, it tells us how to collect and prepare acorns for human consumption, how to make use of the algae that inhabit our beaches, how to make seed sprouts, fabric softeners, natural soaps… it gives us in a few pages a lot of tools to continue walking towards the sovereignty of the people and betweenode these recipes… How to make a homemade vegetable fermenter!!!
With great enthusiasm we have started with the production of yogurts and vegetable cheeses, this time,
completely homemade.
We will soon share our progress with you!
Thank you dear Dawamoru for your wonderful contribution!!