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shelf life. 

However, even if fermented foods have only recently become popular, their use is ancient and was originally aimed at preventing food deterioration. Today, these foods have become synonymous with healthy cooking and are used by many chefs as main ingredients of their recipes.

The fermentation process can be carried out very easily, but some specific rules must be respected in order for the foods to ferment properly and without posing any risks to human health.

Indeed, it often happens that properly prepared foods do not manage to activate the fermentation step for whatever reason, such as temperature or sanitisation of the tools used. This happens, even if you often decide not to proceed in a natural way, but through the use of yeast chemical activators.

To avoid these problems and always achieve natural and high-quality results in very short times, you can use waveco® and its ground-breaking technology, which can help us make fermentation easy.

Induced maturation© allows to accelerate the whole process, reducing the fermentation activation step and increasing the food shelf life, thus giving the consumer a product with greater durability and food safety.

Below you can find a vegan recipe, which puts into practice the fermentation technique using waveco®: “Matured and fermented vegetable salad”. For this recipe, use broccoli, matured cauliflowers and three fermented vegetables: radishes, red turnip and daikon.

FERMENTED RADISH

Once washed and cut, put the radish into a container with water and vinegar and start the induced maturation© process. After the cycle, you obtain a product with intact organoleptic properties and ready for the fermentation process, which will definitely start after a few days. In contrast to the traditional method, the food must not be kept at room temperature in order for the process to start, but you can store it directly in the fridge.

TECHNICAL FOCUS: HOW TO FERMENT FOOD

The food, properly cleaned and washed, must be put into containers and covered with a liquid solution characterized by an acid and a sugared part. For the fermentation process to start, let the food rest in an environment at about 20°C for 10 days.

FERMENTED RED TURNIP

Once washed, peeled and cut into pieces, put the red turnip into the container, without water or marinade, and prepare it with the induced maturation© process, which, as before, allows you in a short time (about 70 minutes) to obtain a tender food product with a really pleasant consistency and flavour.

Achieving a similar result with the traditional techniques in such a short time is completely impossible; generally, its tenderness can be increased only with several hours of boiling with the skin on.

Great advantages also in terms of fermentation: thanks to waveco® you can accelerate the process, which takes place in complete safety and lets you use the turnip in the recipe after only two days of fermentation.

TECHNICAL FOCUS: FERMENTATION ISSUES

Before fermentation starts, it can happen that the food deteriorates due to its limited durability. This issue can be solved through the use of activators which accelerate the start of fermentation but also lead to the formation, in some cases, of bacteria harmful to human health.

FERMENTED DAIKON

The daikon must be washed, peeled, cut and matured in a container with water and vinegar. In this case as well, induced maturation© allows for fibre stretching; the solution penetrates the food, increasing its tenderness and enhancing its taste and flavour. Moreover, the process activates fermentation more rapidly, with no risks.

TECHNICAL FOCUS: FERMENTATION SHELF LIFE AND BENEFITS

Fermentation makes food richer in enzymes, vitamins, antioxidants and living lactic ferments, thus improving the nutritional content of fresh foods. Moreover, fermented foods stimulate the intestinal microbial flora and thus improve the immune system. Once fermentation is concluded, it is recommended to store the food in the fridge, even if it can last for several months, even at room temperature.

BROCCOLI AND CAULIFLOWER

Both vegetables must be washed, cut and put into containers: the broccoli with a small amount of water, while the cauliflower is marinated. Start the induced maturation© cycle for both foods; a process which tenderises the vegetable fibres without causing the loss of its nutritional and organoleptic properties. As they become more tender, fibres allow the marinade, by osmosis, to penetrate the food homogeneously in an easier and quicker way than the traditional techniques. At the end of the process, you will have uncooked vegetables, with a natural flavour and a pleasant consistency on the palate.

TECHNICAL FOCUS: MARINATING AND OSMOSIS

Marinating is the technique used to season, store, tenderise and cook foods. The food is “attacked” by the acidic base of the emulsion with the physical-chemical process called Osmosis, through which two liquids of different concentrations (meat internal juices against the oil and acid emulsion) penetrate the membranes in order to balance; aromas (and the acid) penetrate the muscle fibres, seasoning and tenderising foods at the same time. The marinating process can take up to 24-36 hours.

PLATING

Beat the red turnip until you have a reduction and lay it on the plate. Place the daikon and the radish cut into slices or cubes and the broccoli heads and the cauliflower. Finally, singe the broccoli with a kitchen blowtorch.

CHEF TECHNICAL FOCUS

Induced maturation© increases the ingredients’ tenderness, maintaining their colour and nutritional properties unchanged. Fermentation activated through waveco® allows you to achieve an excellent result from a qualitative point of view; you will have a safe food product with an enhanced taste and you be able to store it for a longer period of time thanks to the increase in its shelf life. Time reduction in preparation has to be mentioned too: in all kinds of preparations fermentation usually activates after a lot of days; on the contrary, with waveco® it starts only a few days after storing the container in the fridge.