The Roanoker January/February 2022 - 64

dining
acclaim. " He would frequent
our shop and he fell in love
with the products I was creating, "
Kingery says. At the
time, Brock was developing
recipes for his next Nashville
restaurant and invited
Kingery to conduct test ferments
for him. Using Brock's
recipes, Kingery tinkered with making
sauerkraut with greasy beans, white
cabbage, corn, and red chilies, and experiSauerkraut
101
Andrew Kingery hopes to offer quarterly fermentation
classes, starting with a simple sauerkraut class
and working up to more intensive projects such as
miso. " I want to have a set outline and outlet for people
to get involved with fermentation and have somebody
help with all of the mysteries of it. "
One of the biggest hurdles Kingery sees people
encounter with at-home fermentation is the fear that
they'll create something harmful. But he's here to
reassure us. " The inherent environment in which fermented
products exist, those harmful bacteria cannot
exist because of pH, " he says. " Botulism can't
exist in a pH below 4.5. And all fermented products,
if they ferment for any amount of time, very quickly
go below 4.5. "
For a simple, entry-level project, Kingery recommends
making sauerkraut. Here are the steps:
Select a head of cabbage (whatever color you
like), chop it up, and add it to a large bowl. Sprinkle
a generous amount of Kosher salt on top (about 2
Tablespoons for a head of cabbage), and using clean
hands, work it in to the cabbage. Taste it. If it's not
salty enough, add more. If it's too salty, add more
cabbage.
When you can grab a handful of cabbage and
squeeze liquid out of it, you're done (after five to 10
minutes). Pack the cabbage into a resealable twoquart
jar, pressing down so the liquid rises to the top,
and seal with the lid. Store the jar in the refrigerator.
Every two to three days, open the jar to release
the gas created during the fermentation process.
After one to two weeks, your sauerkraut will be ready.
mented with fermenting whole ears of corn.
" I still make these. They're incredibly delicious,
sweet, sour and bubbly. You bite into
the kernels, and they burst with carbonation, "
Kingery says.
Working with Brock has also been a
meaningful way to reconnect to his own
Appalachian roots. Kingery recalls helping
his grandfather pick beans, okra, banana
peppers, peas, and radishes from his Salem
garden to put up in jars. " After reading Sandor
Katz's Wild Fermentation, I realized
'that's what grandpa was doing,' " Kingery
says. " That's a very Appalachian thing, utilizing
a root cellar to keep vegetables throughout
the winter at times when people didn't have
refrigeration or when refrigeration was an expensive
commodity. "
Kingery intended to be part of Brock's latest
Nashville restaurant, Audrey, but a Nashville
tornado and a global pandemic delayed
the opening. By then, Kingery and his family
were looking for more stability and returned
to Salem, where they bought a 1930's craftsman-style
home in January 2021. In the dirt
patch in the garage where the old coal shoot
ends, Kingery dreams of digging to create his
own root cellar - an ideal addition to his test
kitchen-fermentation lab.
Speaking of additions, Kingery recently purchased
a 1964 Shasta Camper that he's converting
into a mobile café and kombucha bar.
Come fall, he hopes to serve baguette sandwiches
(with fermented accompaniments, of
course), kombucha, and seasonal pastries. Like
his brews, bakes and pickles, Kingery's idea is
wildly creative. And he sees Roanoke's percolating
food scene and culture as the perfect
starter for launching it. " A town like this...
something like that would probably thrive. " I
64
JAN/FEB 2022
TheRoanoker.com
COURTESY OF FOLKLORE FERMENTS / LAYLA KHOURY-HANOLD
http://www.TheRoanoker.com
The Roanoker January/February 2022

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