Ferment for Good by Sharon Flynn

Ferment for Good is an introduction into the world of fermentation. Born out of necessity and extensive travel, this book is a chatty, carefully curated collection of recipes, instructions and ideas.

This book is written for friends by a friend, in such a way that it seems that Sharon is sharing her journey.

Alongside a how-to guide to the basics (why do it; what you need; and what you’ll get), the book offers sections on wild fermented vegetables (including sauerkraut, kimchi and brine ferments); drinks (water kefir, kombucha, Jun tea, pineapple wine, mead); milk and dairy (including yoghurt and milk kefir), condiments and breads (such as mustard, spreads, dosa and injera); and Japanese ferments (including miso & tamari, soy sauce, sake kasu and pickled ginger).

Thanks to Hardie Grant, we have 5 copies of Ferment for Good and one Kraut Source to give away*. Please email us and tell us about your favourite fermented product. The most entertaining entry will receive the book and a Kraut Source and 4 other winners (selected randomly) will each receive a copy of the book.

Recipe: MUSTARD

I didn’t know how easily mustards could be made until quite recently. In fact, I don’t think I’d ever even thought about mustard other than buying and eating it. I’ve enjoyed some special flavoured mustards, and paid a lot extra for them (I am guilty of being easily seduced by packaging).

As with many of the recipes in this book, there are very few ingredients – mustard seeds, a liquid and an acid. You can play around with other additions such as herbs and spices or how sweet or hot you’d like it, but the basic recipe and technique is the same.

And if you want to delve further and look for the science, it’s there. The heat that you may seek is released from within the seeds but will be greatly reduced if you warm it up. So when you add your liquid you can keep it cold to make sure the seeds remain potent, or warm the liquid to make it milder. We like to keep the liquid room temperature, particularly because we often use kimchi or kraut juice as the liquid. I also frequently add some of our garlic or jalapeño fermented honey as a sweetener (see page 200). When I ferment honey and garlic with mustard in mind, I also ferment some sage into the honey and get a beautiful subtle honey–sage mustard.

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Fermentation time: 2 days–2 months Equipment: 2 small jars