Fermentation is a traditional way of preserving food that is experiencing resurgence at the moment and we at Hapi are right behind it!

You can find Petra – ‘The Fermentress’ at Hapi on a Monday and Tuesday. Busy out the back making her famous vegan kimchi, mixing up new kombucha flavours and basically being an all-round fermenting bawse!

Try as you might to eradicate it with antimicrobial sprays and hand-wash, yeast and bacteria are everywhere

But these microbial cultures aren’t always the bad guys!

They populate our digestive tracts and play a critical role in the break down and utilisation of the food we eat.

Natural fermentation methods have shown to preserve the nutrients and increase digestibility due to the fact they have pre-digested.

All this leads to an increased ability to digest and absorb, enhancing our ability to extract the goodness from food.

We are in fact, in a symbiotic (inter-dependant) relationship with these many millions of microscopic flora and without them life wouldn’t be much fun!

Another important role of the “good” bacteria is keeping the “bad” guys in check – when levels of good flora are correct then good and bad can live in relative harmony. – I use the terms “good” and “bad” loosely because the human microbiome is symbiotic and delicate ecology.

The majority of fermented foods contain the bacteria from the genera Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium and eating them regularly has been associated with a range of health benefits including positive effects on -

• Digestion
• Rotavirus diarrhoea
• Antibiotic-associated diarrhoea
• Traveller’s diarrhoea
• Constipation
• Thrush
• Atopic eczema

So if you have a gut feeling that fermented foods is something you need in your life right now – go get yourself a SCOBY or a cabbage and some salt and get fermenting.

Or if that sounds a bit too much like hard work at the moment head down to Hapi and pick up one of our gut shots, kombuchas, kimchi, or a jar or cultured cashew cheese.

Your tummy will thank you for it!