Category Archives: Fermentation

Beef Jerky and Chilli Mead Tasting.

July 31, 2015 Munchkin

It was so hot today!! What a change from the rains…now we are starting to worry about our water situation because we still do not have a well-pump. Gnome says we are on Red Alert which means that we have to use water judicially and some frog spawn will be have sacrificed as we use up our collection of buckets.

Anyway, I am onto the Beef Jerky and Chilli Mead (having guzzled down all the Resurrection Metheglin, which I found most profoundly enlightening). If you will recall, we decided to make a mead out of beef jerky (ended up being black pepper beef jerky) because there is a traditional ale recipe made with rooster (cock). If you don’t remember that, perhaps you might remember Gnome’s cock jokes which everyone politely ignored! Let us don our evening wear to do the tasting:

I have shortened the name of this mead to “BJ” for Beef Jerky (I have to spell it out because Gnome thought it was something else). Munchkins have a clean mind!!

Beef.Jerky.Pepper.Metheglin — Beef Jerky and Chilli Mead.

Colour is light amber with some cloudiness. No head but ample small bubbles can be seen.

Smells very mildly of home-made beef soup with a background of spiciness.

The beef jerky lends a very well-rounded taste like a good soup that has had time to cook and absorb flavours. There is a mild hot after taste from the chilli and black pepper (if you ask me…I would like more chilli with the next batch).

Excellent. Totally love the heat and soupiness of this mead. Definitely a favourite!!

By the way, Gnome does not drink because he has “Yang in his liver” which gets him all heaty . Every time he even has one drink, he gets pimples and piles (poor Gnome). I have to balance the “fire” with really simple cooling foods like rice, tofu and cucumbers (which he dislikes). So he said that he would rather give up drinking than eat boring food like that!

Thank-you Gnome For Your Fermentation Magic!

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Fermentation

Jungle Farm and Resurrection Metheglin Tasting.

July 30, 2015 Munchkin

Hi Everyone!! We have been so busy well, with life that the grass has grown up with all the rains. The jungle has all of a suddenly sneaked up on us and bang…we feel like we are living in the middle of the bush. Aaarghh!! Can’t see anything for the tall grass and humongous weeds (here in Belize, they are not mere dandelions…they grow into monster plants)!!

It is time for a big mow and tidy up. Gnome agrees with me too.

However, we have one slight problem. The weather is not co-operating!! It is pouring down!!

So, instead of farm stuff let us move swiftly onto a metheglin tasting. During our EasterTime madness, Gnome had made a Resurrection Metheglin with the following flavourings: liquorice root, star anise and Ligusticum wallichi, also known as Chuanxiong Rhizoma in Traditional Chinese Medicine and also as Szechuan Lovage. The star anise and liquorice root add that sweetish, unctuous and mouth-coating flavour while the Rhizoma adds a more earthy, complex and spicy aroma that has hints of fennel and celery.

Resurrection.Metheglin.Herbs — Liquorice Root, Star Anise and Szechuan Lovage.

Colour is golden yellow and effervescent; medium sized bubbles with good fizz. Slightly cloudy. No Head.

Smells like a lager.

The first sip is thirst-quenching when served at a cold temperature. It is mild tasting with anise and celery-like under-tones. The herbaceous flavour is light and crisp, adding a refreshing feeling to the overall taste. The liquorice is not detectable so for next time, we will add more of this.

Very Good!!

So good that Munchkin has a confession to make. There are no more bottles left…they have been systematically guzzled down …slowly…one a day (56 bottles in total). She just had the last one today and so felt that it was time to do a “tasting” before the Resurrection Metheglin was sadly a thing of the past.

Belize, Fermentation, Food

Home-made Miso Tasting.

July 18, 2015 Munchkin

Hello there every-one!! Hope you are having a good day. Today, I have two miso tastings from the time when we “were mad about the beans” and made buckets and buckets of home-made miso.

The Shiro Miso: has a higher proportion of white rice to bean (we used blackbeans instead of soya beans since we live in Belize). We have actually been eating through our supply for the last month or so and I was afraid that I would munch my way through it all without doing some proper feed-back.

Shiro Miso Tasting:

Gnome says: overall, it is a light fermentation product; will continue to build complexity with aging. Less salty, sweet and mild tasting.

Munchkin says: I have used the shiro miso in soups, marinating of meat and to flavour pot roasts. All flavour packets have been replaced with a dollop of shiro miso (in fact, we have ramen noodles with this miso). It is so mild tasting, you need a whole tablespoon in a bowl of miso soup.

Hatcho Miso with Beef Jerky: Miso made from bean (blackbean) koji alone. We also added beef jerky and black pepper to make it into “Meat Lover’s” Miso.

Meat Lover's Hatcho Miso. — Meat Lover’s Hatcho Miso.

Meat Lover’s Miso Tasting:

Gnome says: Obviously needs more time to develop but at this stage, still very, very tasty. Has strong mushroom overtones with meat undertones. Can do with more black pepper. Will certainly reach an exquisite taste and will peak in ten years or so. A true masterpiece that has to be waited for.

Munchkin says: Beefy!! Let’s start eating it!! Yum. So rich and creamy. This miso has such intensity of taste, you only need one teaspoon to make a bowl of miso soup.

There is nothing like home-made miso…you can’t buy it for love nor money!!

THIS IS A PAID ADVERT!!!

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WE WILL BE ANNOUNCING THE CANDIDATES FOR THE MAYORAL ELECTIONS 2015, PARADISE PASTURES.

6pm CENTRAL/ MOUNTAIN PIGGIE TIME.

DON’T MISS MGNEWS!!

Amusing, Belize, Fermentation, Food, Plants

On the Joys of Eating Craboo.

July 16, 2015 Munchkin

Yay…It is a craboo season! Gnome and I relish this time when we can sit together and polish off a huge bowl of this delightful fruit together…day after day until the season finishes.

We have some of these craboo trees (Byrosonima crassifolia) growing voluntarily on our land. The fruits are not mature yet, still at a small green stage. We have to keep a keen eye on them because the blackbirds (Carib Grackles) are scoffing off all our fruit (both unripe and ripe) as if there is no tomorrow. The cheeky buggers!!

Anyway, the taste of craboo fruit is like no other. They are red or yellow in colour, round and soft. The flesh is white and has a distinct unctuous cheese-like fragrance with a background of mild sweetness. They are truly umami and it is a wonderful taste experience.

To get the most of the craboo fruit, they require fermentation in plastic bags for a few days (1 to 3 days depending on the degree of fragrant cheesy flavour you would prefer).

A few years ago, we were given a handy tip by a Belizean who recommended that we placed our craboo fruit inside the car to allow maximal ripening of the fruit. So, you can recognise a true craboo connoisseur if they have bags of craboo sweating away in their car and they are totally non-plussed by the cheesy odour emitting from inside the vehicle.

So far, we have not found any fellow ex-pats who share our love for this unusual tasting fruit. The locals all seem to have the same feverish enthusiasm as us…I have seen Mayans buy ten bags at a time at the market. I have seen the way their eyes ogle at the fruit as they labouriously go through the bags of fruit, looking for the ripest ones. The job of finding the best tasting bags of fruit, becomes an obsessive task. I know this because I stand side by side with all these Mayans man-handling the bags of fruit as we vocalise our anticipation with “ooohs” and “aaahhs” and smile knowingly at each other. I feel that I have been initiated into an esoteric, sacred custom of Belize! Gnome says that liking craboo should mean that you have graduated successfully into a fellow local Belizean. It is a well-known fact that it is extremely difficult to get Belizean residency in this country…and there is apparently no logical system to follow in order to gain this status. Gnome has suggested that a bowl of craboo should be placed in front of applicants; if they are seen to be eating craboo fruit with great gusto like a local person, then they should be granted the Belizean status! Knowing all the expats down here in Toledo, I would say that, given this test, they would all be leaving en masse!

Belize, Farming, Fermentation

Making Passionfruit Melomel

June 23, 2015 Munchkin

The days are getting sunnier and drier and so we are able to get up at 4am and finish all our work by 10am. Gnome has been cleaning up the coconuts and brush-mowing all the tall grass and small trees in that area. We have managed to use up all the fallen coconuts so presently, we are unable to process any coconuts until Gnome procures a big stick (20 feet or 6 metres) to knock them down. Gnomes do not possess the character trait of scaling heights (unless in emergency situations) so anyone waiting for our coconut products needs to wait for the big stick. He would rather have his feet firmly planted on the ground…Gnomes are kinda earthy creatures.

During the midday heat, we are (romantically) reading the Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica textbook together (thank-you Ted Berlin for your generosity in sharing such wonderful works). I read out loud whilst Gnome makes occasional comments on the specific herbal monographs that we read about. Interestingly enough, it takes him less time to understand the Traditional Chinese Medicine model. I still have my feet firmly (somewhat) entrenched in “anglo-thinking” whilst Gnome understands Chinese concepts better since he grew up in Asia. To put it in his terms: I am a “banana”; yellow on the outside and white on the inside and he is an “egg”; white on the outside and yellow on the inside. It is so funny because he thinks he is more Chinese than I am and I am Chinese but happen to have been brought up in Scotland.

Yes, you have guessed it…we are closet encyclopaedia readers and we are “coming out” with it. Well, I suppose that is how we became doctors…by reading copiously.

Anyway, enough about us. I am sure that you just wanted to know about the Passion fruit melomel! Well today, I sieved out the pulp and juice of 10 passion fruit:

I added water to the pulp (an extra 2 litres or 2 quarts). We then added about 750mls (3 cups) of honey to get a specific gravity of about 1.09 to 1.1 which translates to a 12.5% alcohol content. I then sterilised the solution by boiling it up. Next, I poured it all into a 1 gallon carboy and sealed it with an air-lock.

The last step is to “pitch the yeast” which just means adding the yeast once the mead has cooled down. And then you wait for the bubbling (fermentation) to commence…Blub Blub Blub!! Wait a while, wait a little longer and when you can not possibly wait any longer, you drink it! How easy is that? Munckin Magical Melomel!! Try to wait out at least 3 months!!

Belize, Farming, Fermentation, Food, Our Products, Soap

Munchkin and Gnome are Still Here!

May 14, 2015 Munchkin

Yes we are still here!! A few people have been wondering what has happened to us so I would to reassure everyone that we are absolutely fine. It is transition time from dry to wet season at the moment and with this change, brings early morning rains. As a few of you will know from our previous posts, this has really messed up our farm routine. So, instead of staying at home and feeling sorry for ourselves, we have rearranged our whole farm routine to fit with the weather change. Changing things around a bit isn’t so bad actually as it makes life a bit less predictable.

From our observation, the rains start around 7am and then by 11am, the sun starts coming out…this is horrible because the atmosphere is heavy with humidity and you can’t sweat to cool down. Anyway, by about 3pm, the ground has nicely dried up again and so we have moved our farm work to late afternoon. Gnome is still able to clean up and continue with the brush-mowing while I keep up with maintenance. This work then runs into animal feeding time and so by the time I get into the house, I don’t feel like writing a chronicle of the day. Just to change the routine a bit, we have been going to bed even earlier…about 7pm because we have both been in the mood for reading before sleeping. I am reading Mark Twain and Gnome is reading C.S. Lewis (the lesser known science fiction novels). We both like to read the Classics though I have caught Gnome on occasion reading trashy novels…he just laughs and calls me a literary snob!

Munchkin and Gnome are still doing their stuff…

We made another batch of Chocolate Artisan Soap:

We also prepared Chinese Fermented Black Beans; Needs to get more smelly and fermented…we will give it 12 months to do its thing:

Gnome is making brown rice koji for brewing and miso-making:

And here is a Toledo Firefly…you usually just see a mass of green lights in the dark:

And the cat is up to his usual tricks again, running after lizards in the house. The is a savvy lizard hiding on Gnome’s foot…this one got away:

Slinky on Gnome's Foot. — Slinky on Gnome’s Foot.

Ok everyone, have a good night and hopefully I can be more organised with writing the daily posts!

Belize, Elixirs, Fermentation, Food, Our Products

It’s Cacao Picking Time!

May 7, 2015 Munchkin

April and May are the months for collecting mature cacao pods here in Belize. Today, we harvested a whole lot of pods; they come in all shapes and sizes and colours:

Here is a picture of an opened cacao pod:

The white pulp around the seeds is edible and has a sweet aromatic, acidic taste to it. For the actual chocolate making process, the seeds/beans are fermented with the pulp and dried out in the sun (for up to 7 days). Fermented cacao beans at this stage are shipped by container loads overseas to be processed into chocolate.

We use cacao in many of our products; one of the main ones is Cacao Absolute which we are know selling as a product in The Apothecary. We use this essential oil in our soaps, body oils, massage oils and body sprays; for more information on how we make this check out Making Chocolate Essential Oil.

We are collecting the fresh cacao beans to make Elixirs (or liqueurs). This is a favourite with the chocolate connoisseurs. This is what it looks like initially:

This is on Day 7; look at the spectacular burgundy hues!

The Cacao Fruit elixir requires time to mellow out and develop the complex layers of taste of cacao fruit and bean. The beans will be removed soon and thereafter it is left to sit to allow natural sediment to sink down to the bottom. Every two weeks, the liquid is siphoned into another glass jar so that the sediment can be discarded. There is a lot of work required in creating clarity in this product. We will probably make a batch of about 5 gallons of this which will be ready in about 12 months time. The best things come to those who wait!

Belize, Farming, Fermentation

Flood Flies, Full Moon and Roasting Rice.

May 3, 2015 Munchkin

Last night, the first of the “flood flies” came. These are termite queens and fertile male termites on their “nuptial flight,” triggered by the first rains after the dry season. The purpose of this flight is to mate and form more termite colonies; these critters digest cellulose…in order words, they like to eat wooden structures including buildings and decaying wooden matter. So, you could consider them a pest or just part of the eco-system.

These flood flies start swarming in the evening, mostly around houses. They are attracted to light and will get into every nook and cranny of your house, shedding their wings as they come in. They do no bite but have a habit of crawling all over everything, including people and they just get really annoying. Before we sealed up our bedroom, we would have the flood flies crawling on us all night in bed. In the morning, the inside of the house would always be a scene of devastation with literally thousands of wings everywhere. It is a huge cleaning job; in earlier years when I was armed with only a mere broom, it would take me at least 2 weeks to clean up the whole mess. But now, I have my Eureka…thank God for that!

Anyway, I referred to them as the “First” flood flies; usually there is a test run with the first May rains before they come out en masse. Gnome says there should be a lottery for guessing the Flood Fly Day because it can happen anywhere from the the 1st of May to the 31st of May, but always in May! I am waiting with great trepidation, armed and dangerous with my trusty yellow vacuum cleaner! Gnome does not feel so negatively towards these blighters and in fact views them as a potential source of food. He says that one of these days (this means NEXT year…he does not procrastinate) he will make special nets to catch the flood flies, pack them all in a bucket and make miso out of them.

Today we were anticipating another rainy day which meant staying indoors. Gnome had already warned me to keep out of trouble since it was also the full moon and from our experience as medical doctors, the full moon was always a day for complete and utter chaos in hospital. So, Gnome urged me to keep busy and I tried…it was touch and go a few times with mood swings and chaos but we managed to get through it. By the way…we try to avoid making soap on the full moon because it never turns out right. One time, the soap over-heated and exploded into a foaming mess over the counter-top! What a clean-up…never again!

Today, in an effort to keep busy, I roasted brown rice in the oven for 3 hours….every 15 to 20 minutes I had to bring out the rice to stir it around. The brown rice was roasted to a “chocolate malt” and will be used in the flavouring of beer. This will give a chocolatey, maltiness and caramel-like taste to beer…Mmmm…yum!

So far, so good. The internet just went down for 4 hours this afternoon which isn’t too wildly chaotic! We are going to bed early!!

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Fermentation, Food, Pets, Saving Money

Tuesday Night Storm, Internet Down and Pineapple Melomel.

April 30, 2015 Munchkin

Hello There!! I will try to catch-up with this post and bring you up to date. On Tuesday night we had a scary, gusty storm that resulted in a power-cut for most of the night and of course, the Internet went down with it. The storm has brought cooler weather with grey clouds and it even rained heavily this morning. The Internet started up again today…yay…it is so insidious how we feel that “we need Internet” and life just isn’t the same without it. When I down-loaded my bunch of late emails, they weren’t all that exciting and most of them were spam, anyway!

Well, since it was a Rainy Day, we made Pineapple Melomel (mead with fruit). Yesterday, I had bought 20 ripe pineapples from the market for BZD 30.00 (USD 15.00) in an attempt to excite Gnome into making some more booze (nice, sparkling, champagne-like stuff) for me. After I got the pineapples loaded onto the truck, he gave me a whiny look and said that he was hoping that I had bought the plantains instead of the pineapples. That remark got him a “Chinese Woman Look” and stopped the complaints quick smart.

This is what we did.

We removed the heads and scrubbed them in the sink:

I then started chopping up the pineapples. Whilst I was doing this, I kindly asked Gnome to take some pictures of this process. All the pictures were soooo baaaad!! They were out of focus and made my hands look stumpy and small…or, are they really like that? I had to re-take some photos:

Chopping Pineapples...Look No Hands!! — Chopping Pineapples…Look No Hands!!

Gnome put the pineapple chunks through the juicer to get the juice and the pulp:

We ended up processing 10 pineapples in all because it was actually a lot of work and the juicer was over-heating and complaining with the work-load. So, we managed to get about 6 litres (1 and 1/2 gallons) of juice from it all.

We got an extra 2 litres (2 quarts) of juice from the squeezing of the pulp:

We waste nothing!! We gave this and some pineapple peel to the duckies this morning. It was a Pineapple Feast…look closely at silly white duck…he even has a bit of pineapple stuck to his head.

We have noticed that our duckies are totally neophobic with food unless it is yellow in colour. So, I was received by joyful and frenzied quackings today when I brought out the basin of pineapple waste.

While I was out playing with the duckies, Gnome proceeded with the making of his pineapple melomel; honey and fresh Toledo rainwater (very fresh!) was added to make the batch up to 5 gallons. Gnome will be posting up the recipe in Bored-in-Belize over the next few days.

Heating Melomel:

Yes, I know…it all looks very yellow (just like all the other pictures) but believe me, this will taste great! Tomorrow, we will be processing the rest of the pineapples and adding honey and fresh ginger. In the words of Gnome, “Make it a Metheglin.”

Belize, Blog, Farming, Fermentation, Our Products

Nobody is Reading Our Stuff (and it’s hot).

April 16, 2015 Munchkin 3 Comments

I am feeling a bit disheartened because I think I am writing at a brick wall. As usual, I try to write a post everyday but my Stats keep on dropping. Persistence is supposed to be the key so I will endeavour to keep on going…

It is also soooo hot here in Belize!!

Anyway, today Gnome racked the Melomel because it had stopped bubbling (or talking) to us. We had a quick taste…it was bright orange from the sapodilla and carrots…and it tasted rather orangey. Let’s see how it will evolve. He also put the last of the koji beans in jars in an attempt to make Chinese fermented black beans. We can’t find a recipe anywhere for this so we have decided to add salt to it in a jar and let it keep on fermenting. The fermentation area has been cleared up to make way for start of our soap marathon and so we shall be making a batch of chocolate soaps tomorrow. Gnome also removed the last of the barbed wire fencing which had been originally constructed for the division of large animals on the farm. We are not even going to pretend any-more…we are fine with small things like guinea pigs!

Well, I have developing more products for BotanicaBelize; this time it is Mens’ facial products. It was so hot!!! But, alas I did muster enough creativity, despite the heat, to make some nice products.

One day at a time…

I would like it to be fun all the time but sometimes the sweaty, horrible heat gets in the way!!

Casa Mascia Apothecary