We have a pretty fixed view of what makes up the human body – cells, blood, tissues, bone and so on. But, did you know that inside your gut you carry around a whopping 2kg of microbes, which consists of over 1,000 different species of bacteria that outnumber our cells 10 to one? Most of us are aware that these bacteria play a hugely important role in the digestion process (breaking down food, absorbing nutrients etc), but science is increasingly viewing the microbiome as a new, unexplored and possibly intelligent organ in its own right.

Scientists are now asking, “What’s the connection between the health of our microbiome and our overall health? What role does the microbiome play in mood, depression, diabetes, autoimmune disease, inflammation, food allergies and cancer?”

Though it’s an emerging field, scientists seem to agree that a diversity of gut bacteria is good for our health and that (not surprisingly) what we put into our bodies has a huge impact on our microbiome. Diets high in processed foods are thought to have a huge impact on our gut micro-organism levels. Dietary sugar and fat encourages bad bacteria and reduces the level of the virtuous ones.

There are major health claims being made about fermented foods in relation to gut heath

Excessive antibiotic use is also a concern – a study co-led by researchers at the Universitat de València found that antibiotic treatment causes significant and sometimes irreversible changes in our gut community. Specifically, the study found that the gut microbiome shows less capacity to absorb iron and digest certain foods during antibiotic treatment (but it can recover afterwards).

There are major health claims being made about fermented foods in relation to gut heath, some of which we should probably treat with caution. They are purported to improve intestinal tract health, enhance the immune system, improve absorption of nutrients and reduce the risk of certain cancers. Scientists seem to agree that the bacteria in fermented foods help to pre-digest food components, making it easier for your gut to handle and for nutrients to be absorbed.

In Korea, there are thought to be literally thousands of kimchi recipes

When I first started fermenting food at home, I was just as interested in how they could help me to “store” food as I was in their potential health benefits. Kimchi and sauerkraut for example are centuries-old methods (in Korea and Germany respectively) of preserving cabbage. From a culinary perspective, kimchi is the more elaborate of the two.

In Korea, there are thought to be literally thousands of kimchi recipes and it was traditionally stored in clay pots buried underground to keep them cool and slow the fermentation process. My version below adds carrot, beetroot and shallots as well as the traditional garlic, ginger and chilli-pepper to give it a kick.

I have got into the habit of eating a small serving of kimchi or kraut every other evening before dinner (or sometimes as a side dish). Potential gut health benefits aside, it’s a delicious way to deal with a glut of homegrown veg.

The Basics: collect seaweed

Post-storm is a great time to collect seaweed. There is often confusion about whether it’s legal or not to take seaweed from a beach – bottom line is that “sustainable use” is permitted, which means it’s perfectly fine to collect seaweed that’s been washed up on the beach, but not cool to pull living seaweed from rocks.

Convention has it that you should wash your seaweed before putting it on top of veg beds, but our friend Joy Larkcom reckons this is nonsense

For ease of collection, the drier seaweed up the beach is lighter than the wet stuff beside the surf – in addition to your bags of seaweed, you don’t want to be lugging litres of heavy sea-water home at the same time.

Convention has it that you should wash your seaweed before putting it on top of veg beds, but our friend Joy Larkcom reckons this is nonsense and that there’s no evidence that salt in the seaweed will cause you problems (and it might even kill off some slugs). A decent covering of seaweed (as thick as you can manage) will suppress weeds and improve your soil immensely.

Recipe of the week

Kimchi

Though it’s traditional to have coarsely grated cabbage in kimchi, I like the veg to be finely grated. This recipe produces enough for two large Kilner jars, but a lot will depend on the size of the head of cabbage.

1 medium head white cabbage, grated

2 medium carrots, grated

1 small beetroot, peeled and grated

3 shallots, chopped

2 red chillis deseeded and finely chopped

Thumb-sized piece ginger, chopped

2 tbsp fish sauce

750ml water and 3 tbsp sea salt

  • 1 Make the brine by adding the salt to the water and stirring. Put the cabbage, beetroot and carrot in a large bowl and add the brine. Put a plate on top to keep the veg submerged and leave for three to four hours or overnight. Drain the veg the next morning, retaining the brine. Put the shallots, chillis, ginger and fish sauce and blitz with a hand-blender until it’s like a paste. Pour over the veg and mix really well to ensure all the veg is coated in the paste.
  • 2 Put the veg mix into sterilised Kilner jars and pour the brine over so it’s covering the veg. Cover and leave to stand at room temperature for three to five days. It will start to bubble and ferment. Then pop it in the fridge where it will continue to ferment (but more slowly). You can enjoy it straight away and it will keep for about a month (though it never lasts that long in our house).