"Nourishing Traditions"

[chappie]

I received a copy of Nourishing Traditions (based on the Weston A. Price Foundation) a year and a half ago and I pick it up almost every day, thumb through it and read techniques and essays randomly. I have adopted some of its practices, like soaking whole grains before I use them and lacto-fermenting vegetables with whey. I have made kombucha and beet kvass, as well as homemade kimchi and pickles — all delicious. A year ago I stuck with the main principles of the book (whole foods, with lacto-fermented condiments and sides) and lost 15 pounds in the blink of an eye.

I don't always stick to the "traditional" methods advocated by this book, but I believe they are right in blaming many of today's ailments and chronic disease on a dead, pasturized, homogenized and factory-produced diet.

I would like to start a thread for people to discuss this book and the techniques and ideas it describes. Have you lacto-fermented your own pickles or sourkraut? What was your experience with kombucha (it didn't agree with me). Do you eat steel-cut oats for breakfast, soaked beforehand? Do you disagree with parts of the book, all of the book? Or the Weston Price Foundation?

Let's get some discussion going here...

[M.G. Apicius]

Chappie,

I'm also interested in the topic handled by this cookbook. What foods offer real nutriion and a healthy life? What foods taste wonderful, but may not be the best for us. I don't have a copy of this cookbook, but I'll go check it out.

You might enjoy going to Amazon.com and read the reviews made by other people who have read the book (one would assume they actually did read the book!?).

I'll reply back again after getting a copy

I think the idea of moving toward whole foods and organic food products and away from overly processed and refined foods can only lead to better health.

[Verjuice]

When I find that cookbook in one of these boxes, I'm going to look through it to remind myself why I didn't really like it to begin with.

I remember really wanting to like it. Maybe the recipes just didn't interest me. I seem to remember it being kind of scattered and eclectic (not necessarily bad things, of course!). I knew a couple of different people who were dedicated to that book. In fact it was the only cookbook they each owned, and they were both private chefs.

What do you think of the recipes?

[M.G. Apicius]

I picked up a copy of the cookbook, and I too thought it wasn't much to look at after the first glance. Its all simple black printing. No photographs. We expect our great cookbooks to have a lot of color and pictures--so right away its easy to dismiss it visually. However, I kept reading thru it and as I did so I liked it more and more. First the recipes look sound, useful, and easy to prepare. Better yet the sidebars on either side of the recipes are a great information source and very useful for anyone trying to eat better nutrionally. I especially like the 1-48 "Know your ingrediants" that help you to reallly learn what ingrediants in some of our well know products contain. Next, trying the recipes..

[devlin]

I bought that book after a San Francisco chef discussed it at Alan Scott's bread oven conference last November and who then cooked a feast for the conference participants using the methods and many of the recipes. Not only were the arguments compelling and convincing, the food was fabulous. Because so much of it is like a foreign language though, and a thing that will require some time and dedication and thinking about cooking in fairly new ways, I haven't gotten to cooking from the book yet.

[Pan]

I picked up a copy of the cookbook, and I too thought it wasn't much to look at after the first glance.  Its all simple black printing. No photographs.  We expect our great cookbooks to have a lot of color and pictures--so right away its easy to dismiss it visually.  However, I kept reading thru it and as I did so I liked it more and more.[...]

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I guess that would be an application of the adage "Don't judge a book by its cover."

But I don't feel the way you do about photos in cookbooks. I like photos as much as the next guy and gal, but I think lots of glossy photos are unnecessary in a cookbook and mainly have the effect of making the book more expensive to publish and, therefore, more expensive to buy. If the cookbook has delicious recipes, phrased clearly, accurately, and sufficiently completely (i.e., without skipping necessary steps), I believe photos aren't necessary.

[Verjuice]

Well, I did not imply that it was the absence of photos that made the book uninteresting to me. If anything, I remember it being more like a textbook. And probably more valuable to someone who relies heavily on processed foods? I really am going to have to locate the darn thing before I comment further. Carry on!

[misstenacity]

I finally got this book and have been lightly reading it for a few weeks. Today I started my first ever batch of yogurt cheese (& whey), and when that's done I will start soaking my porridge grains overnight before cooking to see if that makes any difference in how I feel in the morning and digest things overall.

Previously, I was soaking my muesli overnight, but only in water. I guess it needs an acidic "starter" solution to really get things going, nutritionally speaking.

When I start making some of the real recipes, I'll try to post back here how they turn out.

Anyone have any early favorites among Fallon's included dishes?

Andrea

http://tenacity.net

[chappie]

I haven't used to book for recipes per se, but I do use the whey-inoculated pickle recipes and methods, and techniques like soaking grains and drinking keffir milk. Lately I've been off my Nourishing Traditions kick and I don't feel nearly as energetic and healthy as I did when I woke up to a bowl of soaked steel-cut oats, kefir milk and yerba mate (not sure how Fallon feels about the mate, but it made me feel great).

Has anyone tried making kombucha?

[kellycolorado]

I too bought the book a year or two ago, along with Wild Fermentation, a great recipe book on fermented foods.

I enjoy reading the side notes and the "know your ingredients" like some people have mentioned. Reading the nonfoods in these packaged items drives me to make them from scratch (or buy them from the health food store when I don't have time.) I haven't tried a lot of "recipes" per se, but have been eating steel cut oats soaked overnight with a bit of yogurt or miso, drinking unhomogenized milk, more yogurt and miso, less processed foods, etc. Being busy I haven't tried my own lacto fermented olives, but bought some wonderful ones at the farmer's market last summer, as well as some wonderful unpasteurized pickles. My daughter was highly intolerant of dairy and I'm trying to help her digestion, as well as the whole family's. She seems to digest goat cheese and organic plain yogurt without problems now.

One big change was buying my own chest freezer last year and buying a 1/4 of grassfed beef. Next month I'm buying a naturally raised lamb.

I made a wonderful root vegetable kimchi from Wild Fermentation last spring and plan to make my own beer and honey wine this winter. (Nourishing Traditions focuses on non alcoholic fermented drinks, but I am going the Wild Fermentation way and have decided they are OK in moderation).

I have big plans for next spring and summer and trying some more recipes. Hopefully my motivation will stay high. :-)

-Kelly

[Knicke]

Interesting! I found this book through another online forum (that one is focused on herbalism/energy healing etc., but there is a food section as well) and just recently borrowed it from the library. I agree with many of the previous comments - I miss the pictures (often a huge motivating factor in pushing me to try a recipe) but appreciate the text-heavy approach when I'm using it as a learning resource. I think I may have to get my own copy; it certainly seems worthwhile as a reference, if not a go-to cookbook.

I put together a jar of the gingered carrots (lacto-pickle) a few days ago, and they should be ready tonight when I get home from work. For some reason, I'm a teensy bit squeamish about the idea of eating something that's been in my cupboard fermenting for 3 days. Weird, because I love wild yeasted bread...I'm sure that slight squeamishness will pass once I taste the carrots and confirm that I've done it correctly.

Edited to say chappie, what did you think of the beet kvass? Can you describe the flavor a bit? It has me intrigued....

Edited November 22, 2005 by Knicke (log)

[Patrick S]

I believe they are right in blaming many of today's ailments and chronic disease on a dead, pasturized, homogenized and factory-produced diet.

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I'm curious. Which ailments and chronic diseases are caused by pasteurization and homogenization?

[Lynnette]

Hi Chappie, All,

I am new with eGullet, but am very familiar with Nourishing Traditions (NT, for short). I have been working with the principles laid out by Sally Fallon for most of the last year. I say principles, instead of recipes, because I usually apply my own recipes to her guidelines.

This summer I made lactofermented garlicky dill pickles, my first sauerkraut, and some gingery daikon radish relish. I bake all our bread and it is all sourdough with long fermentations (so as to be "soaked"). I make kefir with real kefir grains and yogurt, both from local raw milk. I will often make wholesome smoothies with one of these for breakfast, with free-range organic egg yolks, virgin coconut oil, and sometimes frozen fruit. Kombucha tea is also constantly brewing here (I use 2 green tea bags and 2 Earl Grey, to 3 qts water & 1 cup sugar, and brew two weeks for a delightful brew).

The thing I love most is that Sally got me to start making bone broths again and homemade soup has become a mainstay . Once a vegetarian, I am again eating red meats, but only if organic in principle and pastured. This summer, I met a local farmer at the farmer's market, who farms to my standards, and have been out to his farm to see the "happy cows, sheep and chickens" of MN. Now winter is approaching I am still able to get wholesome meats, poultry and eggs from him. Food never tasted so good, IMO.

Lynnette

[duckduck]

I bought it awhile back. My aunt is totally into it. It was a wonderful read. I haven't actually tried any of the recipes yet but I hear that my aunt's pickled stuff in the fridge is wonderful. I need to go back and read it again. Thanks for the reminder and starting the thread.

[chappie]

Edited to say chappie, what did you think of the beet kvass? Can you describe the flavor a bit? It has me intrigued....

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When I did it right (I found I needed to add a pinch of sugar to get the fermentation started, and I fermented it at room temperature slightly longer than they suggested) it was sour with a hint of sweetness, very dark, and with a nice beet flavor. Just a hint of effervescence. It kept nicely in the refrigerator.

[chappie]

I was making kombucha continuously for several months in 2003, I think, but while I liked the taste of it, it didn't quite agree with my digestive system. I was keeping everything clean and following the instructions, but maybe I should've diluted it with water for awhile. I'll try it again sometime when I get a new starter. As for keffir, I drink commerical stuff I can buy in the store, because we can't get raw milk where I live in Maryland.

[Lynnette]

I was making kombucha continuously for several months in 2003, I think, but while I liked the taste of it, it didn't quite agree with my digestive system. I was keeping everything clean and following the instructions, but maybe I should've diluted it with water for awhile. I'll try it again sometime when I get a new starter. As for keffir, I drink commerical stuff I can buy in the store, because we can't get raw milk where I live in Maryland.

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Hi Chappie,

I find that I also have digestive troubles IF I drink kombucha without food, or drink too much at one time. It is something that we need to start slowly and bulid up - like adding fiber to our diets.

Lynnette

[Lynnette]

After rereading this forum, I had another thought I would like to share about Sally Fallon's "cookbook." While I think it does contain good recipes, I also think it works better as a textbook and guide.

I love to cook, and that's why I joined egullet. I have a friend (DF) who has been a WAPF member for years. One day, shortly after I started applying Sally's philosophies, I invited DF to stay for lunch, saying I was going to throw some mushroom-barley soup together. The "quick" slow food menu started with a a rich beef bone broth, cooked and defatted a day or two before. To this I added a good assortment of wild-harvested mushrooms and some soaked barley. I sliced some of my sourdough bread, and spread it with homemade cultured butter. The meal was served up with small glasses of green-tea kombucha (which DF said tasted like wine). To my mind, it was a simple meal, in alignment with NT. My friend STILL talks about the meal, because it was so tasty, rich and nourishing. No recipe was from NT (well, except for the butter), but anyone following the Nourishing Traditions guidelines would recognize the principles running throughout the menu.

BTW, my friend home schools her children, and has used this book as one of their health texts.

Lynnette

[chappie]

I had loaned my copy of NT to a friend many months ago and just got it back. Sadly, I've been eating pretty shabbily for awhile and am eager to get on a better track soon.

Has anyone who uses the book experimented with soaking cornmeal in the limewater solution they recommend (I believe it uses Azomite powder)? I routinely soak things like steel-cut oats overnight with water and a splash of keffir milk, but the book claims cornmeal is even more important to soak because its nutrients are bound up.

[Lynnette]

Has anyone who uses the book experimented with soaking cornmeal in the limewater solution they recommend (I believe it uses Azomite powder)? I routinely soak things like steel-cut oats overnight with water and a splash of keffir milk, but the book claims cornmeal is even more important to soak because its nutrients are bound up.

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I haven't yet soaked cornmeal in limewater, but, I discovered that the product Maseca (Masa Harina) is "specially ground and dehydrated whole kernal corn and lime." I am pretty sure it is pre-soaked in lime. I use it for cornmeal.

Lynnette

[twobrain]

where did you guys get your kombucha starters from? im in NJ anyone want to mail me one of their starter =)

[twobrain]

and if you search for masa harina theres some nice egullet threads on it... the tortilla making thread is good too

i was looking for a tortilla press today...

fish tacos mmm