Cheremsha, also known as Tjeremsha and Черемша are a wild allium used to make one of the most interesting traditional foods I’ve tasted to date. Essentially, you can think of them as lacto-fermented ramp leaves, although the traditional plant used to make the ferment is Allium victorialis-the victory onion, reputed to have been brought to…
Pickles, Preserves, Etc
Green Walnut Jam / Preserves
Green walnut jam isn’t a jam in the typical sense most people will recognize, rather. A preserve of whole, unripe walnuts in syrup, it’s one of the most interesting things I’ve made with the unripe black walnuts to date. Unlike other recipes that use green walnuts, like nocino, ketchup, or vin de noix, walnut jam…
Walnut Wine or Vin de Noix
Vin de noix, also known as walnut wine, or green walnut wine, is arguably the most well-known use of green walnuts in France. It’s a cousin to the more well-known nocino, the Italian liquor made with green walnuts. If you’ve made nocino and liked it, and have wondered about the French version, I’m here to…
Ramp Leaf Soy Sauce
Soy sauce makes just about everything taste better, and there’s a lot of options to pick from. There’s aged soy sauce, shoyu and tamari, for starters, and then, pertaining to this post, there’s flavored soys. You can add soy sauce infused with ramp or wild onion leaves to the list. Before I made this, the…
Wild Vanilla Extract
Wild vanilla extract. Yes, you read that right. Everyone knows how indispensable vanilla is, especially chefs who buy the whole beans. It’s also no secret that the price has been rising, and a pound of vanilla beans can now run over 300$ a pound, which, depending on what year you compare it to, along with…
Onions Pickled in Wild Fruit Vinegar
With only two ingredients (if you don’t include salt and pepper), onions pickled in wild fruit vinegar is officially the easiest recipe I’ve ever put up here. There’s typically something like this in one form or another in my fridge or on the counter, and they’re the perfect accent for a lot of different dishes,…
Fermented Lemons
Do you like preserved lemons? I do. If you do too, you’ll want to read on, especially if you’re the type of person who likes an easy fermentation project. I always seem to crave preserved/salted lemons when I don’t have any around, and, it can be hard to find them if you don’t live in…
Fermented Knotweed Relish
A few years ago I shared my now favorite recipe for fermented Japanese Knotweed I got from my friend Jacqui, who lives in France. You take the knotweed, peel it, and ferment it in brine. The fermentation seems to denature the mucilage (slimy quality) a bit, with the natural acid produced from lacto-fermentation bringing a…
