I carefully lift the cabbage leaf from the top of the jar on my kitchen counter. Beneath this breathable lid, my homemade sauerkraut has been fermenting for the last two weeks. When I imagine fermentation, there’s a picture of little microbes doing important work; work that should not be disturbed. I taste the sauerkraut. It’s slightly crunchy, definitely sour, and, unfortunately, I don’t like it.
Last spring, I had decided to take a fermentation workshop. I’d heard fermented foods were full of health benefits, packing more of a punch than probiotics alone. I just needed to find one I liked. The workshop was part of the Nourish Whistler Wellness Series and hosted by the exuberant Astrid Kent, owner of Astrid’s Fine Foods and a certified healing food specialist who’s also shared her knowledge at the Slow Food Cycle and Cornucopia.
“When I first started teaching people how to make sauerkraut,” says Kent, “I’d have to educate them on probiotics and microbes; people got nervous when I mentioned bacteria. But now we know we need them, and people are looking for the best and healthiest ways of getting them into their system.”
Kent grew up in a family focused on healthy eating, but when she started a demanding job and training for marathons, her diet turned to power bars and lattes. Her health nosedived, but started to turn around after a visit to New Zealand, where a small-town doctor prescribed local, fermented buttermilk. Kent’s fermented-foods journey began and has since continued for two decades.
The smell was the first thing that hit me when I walked into the session with Kent. There were coloured chopping boards, each topped with a pale green cabbage. Loaves of sourdough and a selection of cheeses (also fermented foods) added to the fragrant bouquet.
A couple sat across from me, and when asked why they were interested in making sauerkraut, the woman (gesturing at her partner) answered, “He toots too much!” Everyone laughed, but a study by the Stanford School of Medicine in 2021 concluded that a diet high in fermented foods (yogurt, kefir, kimchi, fermented vegetables) showed increased gut-microbiome diversity and reductions in certain inflammatory markers. So yes, sauerkraut can help with the toots and a host of other gut ailments.
Fermented foods are made by adding microorganisms, like bacteria or yeast, to food. In the case of the sauerkraut, we crunched up the cabbage by grinding it with our fists (a nice stress reliever) to activate bacteria stored in its water. The bacteria then merrily munch on the natural sugars of the cabbage, a process that’s called lactic acid fermentation. Many fresh fermented foods contain both probiotics (live bacteria) and prebiotics (food for those bacteria), and are known as synbiotic foods.
“Probiotics want to set up camp in your intestine, but if they don’t have a great place to live, that’s hard for them to do,” explained Kent. “Prebiotics provide them a wonderfully furnished apartment, a penthouse even, a place where probiotics want to proliferate. The basic outcome is that it gets things moving through the digestive system by increasing our beneficial bacteria.”
I love this metaphor and imagine those microbes again, now doing laps in their penthouse pool. Scientists still don’t know the exact health benefits of fermented food, but Kent points out that every successful civilization on Earth has a history of fermented food; we’ve just become disconnected from those traditions over time.
Kent eats sauerkraut daily. In the spring and summer, she pairs some with homemade mayonnaise and microgreens from Pemberton. And, although I didn’t enjoy my own sauerkraut, I did like Seed to Culture’s Carrot and Ginger Sauerkraut, made in Lillooet, which has a sweeter taste. It was one of the readymade fermented foods we sampled in the workshop, alongside a selection of fermented drinks. I’d never tried kefir water before (and have always found kombucha a little sour), so I took a tentative sip. The blood-orange soda by Squamish-based company Everwell Water Kefir won me over.
“Kefir water can be a gateway to fermented foods,” says Sabrina Horlyck, co-founder and CEO of Everwell. “It’s created using a similar fermentation process to kombucha, but it’s got a more mainstream flavour. It’s great for people just getting into fermented food, and it’s popular with kids.”
Horlyck started experimenting with kefir water because of her gut issues. Similar to sauerkraut and kimchi, kefir introduces beneficial bacteria, strengthening the gut microbiome. “I was shocked at how much it helped,” she says. “We gave it to friends, sold it at the Squamish Farmers Market and then we were approached by a distributor. It’s gratifying when we get emails from people who’ve found it’s helped them, too.”
The company is celebrating its tenth anniversary and launched an on-the-go, powdered version at the start of this year. They also make popsicles, which are popular as the weather heats up, and on my must-try list as a fermented drinks convert.
But I still wanted something more substantial for my gut. And I didn’t expect to find it when I took the kids ice skating this past winter. Danji Lee opened the Meadow Cafe & Seoul Rice in Whistler’s Meadow Park Sports Centre in 2023.
“When I moved to Whistler, I couldn’t find a good kimchi,” says Lee. “Back in Korea, my mom would make it for me, so I decided to use her recipe and make my own.”
Kimchi is traditionally made with napa cabbage and/or radishes, which are key prebiotic ingredients that can be used to increase gut microbial diversity. And to get the full benefits (improved digestion, reduced inflammation and a supported immune system), kimchi should be fresh; buy it in the refrigerated section of your local store or grab a jar from Lee at her cafe (she also has a vegan version).
“I use napa cabbage, radish, green onion, garlic, apple and onion,” says Lee. “I make a broth with anchovies, shitake mushrooms and kelp, mixed with rice porridge and salted shrimp. I don’t add any extra sugars. Spices add depth and umami, which can make it addictive!”
She does warn people who haven’t tried fresh kimchi that it can pack a spicy punch. Lee adds it to fried rice, noodles and stews, but also to the cheesy fries I tried rink-side at Meadow Park. Her kimchi does indeed have a kick, but teamed with the fries, it adds a crunchy pop of flavour.
With my gut microbes now happily getting their penthouse-pool laps in, my fermented foods journey has definitely made a good start.
Take Astrid Kent’s workshop at Nourish; details online at whistler.com/events/nourish-whistler-wellness/. Try Everwell’s sodas, popsicles and new powder at stores across the Sea to Sky or order online at everwellwaterkefir.com. Sample Danji Lee’s kimchi at meadowcafe.ca.
