I just want to say thank you so much for taking all of the time to research and prepare these incredible posts. They are such an amazing resource to have access to ❤️
You're very welcome, and thank you for your kind words. I just want to do everything in my power to make these skills available to as many people as I can 😊
Fascinating as ever Sam. I have some umeboshi gooseberries from 3 years ago that it's occurred to me I'm leaving as a project in 'how long exactly will these stop tasting so good/when will they kill me?'!
Amazing! I think the answer to both your questions is no. It won’t stop tasting good and no it won’t ever kill you! I’d love to see a picture of a 3 year old gooseboshi. The oldest I’ve seen was 3 years but that wasn’t made from gooseberries.
J’adore Merci beaucoup Chef , je vais essayer aussi cette méthode. J’ai adoré la méthode du thé fermenté ou j’ai utilisé de la coriandre vietnamienne à défaut d’avoir de la verveine citronnelle. Je vais bientôt recevoir un scobby et starter de Kombucha c’est passionnant à chaque fois j’ai envie de plus en plus inclure les méthodes de fermentations dans mon alimentation quotidienne. Merci Sam hâte aussi la sortie de ton Livre en Novembre. Bonne journée
Salut ! Je suis ravie que tu aies aimé le thé fermenté, il faut que tu trouves de la verveine la prochaine fois. Ça va te surprendre ! C'est super excitant d'avoir ton propre scoby ! Attends de voir quand tu feras du kombucha avec toutes sortes de saveurs ! Tu peux aussi l'utiliser pour faire des substituts de vinaigre pour la cuisine et les vinaigrettes. C'est incroyable. Passe aussi une excellente journée.
What a wonderful idea! I have some apricot boshi on the go but hadn't thought of doing it with other fruit, particularly not smaller things like berries and currants. Incredibly excited about the possibilities. Thank you so much!
Love your fermentation posts and your attention to detail. My fermentation journey has been super charged since I found you - keep buying more glass jars to keep up with all the experiments. Next project is to plant more black current - or sun berries as we call them in Denmark. The only berries left in the garden for boshi are blackberries. The lemon verbena tea turned out really well- today I harvest the Vietnamese Coriander for fermentation and use in soups and stews during the cold season.
Hi Marianne, thank you for your comment! I know what you mean, then you have to buy or make more shelving to store all the jars on! Then you might as well get more jars again... Sun berries is a lovely name for them. They're such delicious and unique plants, and you can subject the fresh growth to the same process as the verbena to make black currant tea.
Sam, this recipe looks similar to one you posted on insta re plums? I followed that recipe, forgot it so stuck the fermented plums -not separated- in the fridge. Is the whole thing a lost cause now? Or can I sieve the plums from the liquid and dry as in this recipe? Thanks for these little treatises of fermentation. Can't wait to delve into your book!
Hi Jen, that depends. How much salt did you use for the plum recipe? The one I shared was much lower salt, making it a lacto ferment. If you want to dry these, I'd suggest cutting the plums up and drying them, as they will need to be more dried out that umeboshi (which is preserved by the high salt content). With a lower salt content, lacto plums will need to be dryer to preserve them. It's certainly not a lost cause though! If you've now got them in the fridge they should last there for at least a 2-3 months.
Thanks, Sam. Yes they were definitely lacto fermented. Further the plums were not a freestone variety so have turned into a paste vs individual plums. Which is fine. I'll figure out some way of using them!
Loving these posts about fermenting foods. I'm not sure why blackcurrants (or currants in general) are not that popular here in the USA, as they're so delicious. Usually they show up in those tins of Danish butter cookies that pop up around Christmas. I've tried growing them but I may be too far south, as I didn't have luck with them. The dried berries are available where I am, but I've never seen fresh in the produce section.
Just an FYI re currants not being popular in North America...red, black, white along with gooseberries are all hosts of white pine blister rust. In the 30-40s it destroyed stands of New England and PNW, outlawing the planting of all Ribes varietals. Not so much anymore, I'd still be leery of planting them close to a beloved white pine.
I'd heard that gooseberries carried the disease but I didn't know all of them did! I've seen US garden centres selling blackcurrants now so I wonder if it's a resistent variety perhaps? I'll see if I can find the link and share it with you.
I looked for two years for instructions to make umeboshi (online & books) and finally gave up last year. Will pick the last of the prune plums today to make your umeboshi. Thank you.
You can, but the texture won't be the same, as freezing them damages the cells. You have two options for storage: the first is to keep the fruit as they are in an airtight container somewhere cool and dark (this doesn't have to be a fridge, but can be a cellar or a cold room). Like this, they will remain preserved for several years. Or, you can add a little of the brine (umesu) back into the container with them. Now they’ve been dried, they partially take on the liquid again, enhancing their flavour in a more sour, punchy way.
I just want to say thank you so much for taking all of the time to research and prepare these incredible posts. They are such an amazing resource to have access to ❤️
You're very welcome, and thank you for your kind words. I just want to do everything in my power to make these skills available to as many people as I can 😊
Fascinating as ever Sam. I have some umeboshi gooseberries from 3 years ago that it's occurred to me I'm leaving as a project in 'how long exactly will these stop tasting so good/when will they kill me?'!
Amazing! I think the answer to both your questions is no. It won’t stop tasting good and no it won’t ever kill you! I’d love to see a picture of a 3 year old gooseboshi. The oldest I’ve seen was 3 years but that wasn’t made from gooseberries.
J’adore Merci beaucoup Chef , je vais essayer aussi cette méthode. J’ai adoré la méthode du thé fermenté ou j’ai utilisé de la coriandre vietnamienne à défaut d’avoir de la verveine citronnelle. Je vais bientôt recevoir un scobby et starter de Kombucha c’est passionnant à chaque fois j’ai envie de plus en plus inclure les méthodes de fermentations dans mon alimentation quotidienne. Merci Sam hâte aussi la sortie de ton Livre en Novembre. Bonne journée
Cordialement
Salut ! Je suis ravie que tu aies aimé le thé fermenté, il faut que tu trouves de la verveine la prochaine fois. Ça va te surprendre ! C'est super excitant d'avoir ton propre scoby ! Attends de voir quand tu feras du kombucha avec toutes sortes de saveurs ! Tu peux aussi l'utiliser pour faire des substituts de vinaigre pour la cuisine et les vinaigrettes. C'est incroyable. Passe aussi une excellente journée.
Love it much more when you read it out Sam 🙏🏻🌸
Thank you for all the great details you’ve put in here. Gonna try this on some of the tropical fruits and berries we have here.
Cheers!
What a wonderful idea! I have some apricot boshi on the go but hadn't thought of doing it with other fruit, particularly not smaller things like berries and currants. Incredibly excited about the possibilities. Thank you so much!
Love your fermentation posts and your attention to detail. My fermentation journey has been super charged since I found you - keep buying more glass jars to keep up with all the experiments. Next project is to plant more black current - or sun berries as we call them in Denmark. The only berries left in the garden for boshi are blackberries. The lemon verbena tea turned out really well- today I harvest the Vietnamese Coriander for fermentation and use in soups and stews during the cold season.
Hi Marianne, thank you for your comment! I know what you mean, then you have to buy or make more shelving to store all the jars on! Then you might as well get more jars again... Sun berries is a lovely name for them. They're such delicious and unique plants, and you can subject the fresh growth to the same process as the verbena to make black currant tea.
Sam, this recipe looks similar to one you posted on insta re plums? I followed that recipe, forgot it so stuck the fermented plums -not separated- in the fridge. Is the whole thing a lost cause now? Or can I sieve the plums from the liquid and dry as in this recipe? Thanks for these little treatises of fermentation. Can't wait to delve into your book!
Hi Jen, that depends. How much salt did you use for the plum recipe? The one I shared was much lower salt, making it a lacto ferment. If you want to dry these, I'd suggest cutting the plums up and drying them, as they will need to be more dried out that umeboshi (which is preserved by the high salt content). With a lower salt content, lacto plums will need to be dryer to preserve them. It's certainly not a lost cause though! If you've now got them in the fridge they should last there for at least a 2-3 months.
Thanks, Sam. Yes they were definitely lacto fermented. Further the plums were not a freestone variety so have turned into a paste vs individual plums. Which is fine. I'll figure out some way of using them!
Loving these posts about fermenting foods. I'm not sure why blackcurrants (or currants in general) are not that popular here in the USA, as they're so delicious. Usually they show up in those tins of Danish butter cookies that pop up around Christmas. I've tried growing them but I may be too far south, as I didn't have luck with them. The dried berries are available where I am, but I've never seen fresh in the produce section.
Just an FYI re currants not being popular in North America...red, black, white along with gooseberries are all hosts of white pine blister rust. In the 30-40s it destroyed stands of New England and PNW, outlawing the planting of all Ribes varietals. Not so much anymore, I'd still be leery of planting them close to a beloved white pine.
Oh I didn't know. We mostly have loblolly pines and longleaf. White pines aren't native to Alabama but they're around.
I'd heard that gooseberries carried the disease but I didn't know all of them did! I've seen US garden centres selling blackcurrants now so I wonder if it's a resistent variety perhaps? I'll see if I can find the link and share it with you.
I looked for two years for instructions to make umeboshi (online & books) and finally gave up last year. Will pick the last of the prune plums today to make your umeboshi. Thank you.
The irony is that the disease was brought in from some English pine from Britain. 🤦
I can only apologise, like a good Englishman should!
Sam does the finished boshi need refrigeration?
Excited to try this recipe! I love umeboshi. Can I make this with fresh cranberries ? Also can I use frozen berries?
You can, but the texture won't be the same, as freezing them damages the cells. You have two options for storage: the first is to keep the fruit as they are in an airtight container somewhere cool and dark (this doesn't have to be a fridge, but can be a cellar or a cold room). Like this, they will remain preserved for several years. Or, you can add a little of the brine (umesu) back into the container with them. Now they’ve been dried, they partially take on the liquid again, enhancing their flavour in a more sour, punchy way.