The jars on Micro Mama’s farmers market table may look like they hold ordinary pickled veggies, but you won’t find any vinegar in them because they’re not actually pickled — they’re lacto-fermented, a food preservation technique that precedes pickling by thousands of years.
When fruits and vegetables are lacto-fermented, the starches and sugars convert to lactic acid, resulting in a lactic acid bacteria that preserves the food. Unlike pickling, lacto-fermentation does not use high temperature heat treatments and therefore maintains the beneficial living probiotics in the food.
The owner and founder of Micro Mama’s, Stephanie Zydenbos, started lacto-fermenting vegetables for herself nearly 20 years ago as a more natural alternative to taking dietary supplements.
“I was fascinated with the science and the ancestral culture of it,” she said. “About four years ago, I literally said to myself, ‘This is a no-brainer. I should be doing this. No one else in New Hampshire is doing it.’ So that’s how it started. With a vision and $200.”
Micro Mama’s certified organic, vegan and gluten-free products are made with vegetables from local farms. The products include original recipes for mild and spicy kimchi, sauerkraut, daikon ginger, carrots, a beet blend, turnips and more.
The lacto-fermented veggies can be used as condiments on pretty much anything, including salads, sandwiches, meats and fish, pizza, beans, rice, cheese and soup. Zydenbos suggests using about a teaspoon or tablespoon, and to keep in mind that heat will kill the living probiotics, thus reducing the health benefits of lacto-fermentation, so the veggies are best served cold.
Depending on the vegetable, the lacto-fermentation process can take anywhere from 30 days to nine months. All Micro Mama’s veggies are fermented in glass or ceramic vessels rather than plastic to ensure the best flavor. While no vinegar or sugar is used, lacto-fermentation gives the foods a naturally sour taste similar to that of pickled foods.
“People who have the palate for pickled things will like it,” Zydenbos said. “If you like sauerkraut, it’s soury like that. A very clean, crisp, soury, fresh-tasting bite.”
Micro Mama’s is currently the only commercial lacto-fermenter in the state, but Zydenbos said the idea is definitely gaining interest. This fall, Micro Mama’s will launch a new drink line featuring five lacto-fermented vegetable juice drinks. She said that with the popularity of her current products, she knows “the drinks are going to take off.”
“There’s more people discovering this beautiful art,” she said. “It’s been in the top food trends on the news, at restaurants, and not just foodie journals, but medical journals too. It’s been around for thousands of years and it’s not going anywhere.”
