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when r u having a 'nectar of the gods' tasting party?<br>
Judy<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 07/24/2013 09:17 AM, Stephen J
Gewirtz wrote:<br>
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Recently, I read <i>Cooked </i>by Michael Pollan. In that book,
Pollan talks about four methods of cooking: fire (grilling), water
(braising), air (baking) and earth (fermenting). It was the last
method that was something new to me, and I decided to try it.<br>
<br>
The first thing I tried was making kim chi (Korean fermented
cabbage). That is still in progress. I tasted it after a week,
and it still needs more time, but I liked it and my wife did not.
BTW, kim chi makes quite an odor for the first two or three days
of fermentation.<br>
<br>
The next thing I tried was mead, the "nectar of the gods." Mead
is an alcoholic drink obtained by mixing raw honey with water and
letting it ferment. My first try used some honey that had
crystallized, and I mixed it with water and let it sit for a week
getting yeast out of the air. Then, I corked the bottle it was
in. It did ferment, and it has a kick to it (the alcohol). But I
prefer what I got next.<br>
<br>
My second attempt, which is much tastier, was to take raw honey
that had not crystallized (available from Woolsey Farm at the
farmers' market) and to mix it with water and a tiny amount of
instant yeast. Specifically, I took a pound of honey and mixed it
with enough filtered water (you can also let the water sit
overnight -- you need to get rid of the chlorine) to make almost
two quarts total, plus 1/8 teaspoon of instant yeast (the same as
I use when baking bread -- I would guess that other yeast would
also work). I let it sit in the bottle uncapped for about 3 days,
then capped the bottle, opening the bottle twice a day to release
the pressure building up from the carbon dioxide developed by the
yeast and the sugar in the honey. After two or three more days
(taste it), I had a superb tasting drink which gave me a bit of a
buzz. Now, the bottle is in the refrigerator.<br>
<br>
The bottle I used is a stainless steel growler, i.e. a reusable
bottle made to be filled and refilled with beer from a
microbrewery. I believe that it has just become legal in Maryland
for some establishments that sell beer to fill growlers, but I
have not tried getting a growler filled. The growlers I got came
from Williams Sonoma.<br>
<br>
I have not yet tried it, but you can also add blueberries or other
fruit to the mead to give it more flavor as it ferments.<br>
<br>
Steve<br>
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