bubbly fruit salad obsession

 My family bought me a copy of the fermentation Bible for Christmas.

I promptly devoured it, taking lots of notes on things I wanted to try. Before long, I had several jars of weird stuff bubbling on my kitchen counter. My favorite experiment thus far has been fermented fruit salad (Katz calls it "friendship fruit," which is very cute). Essentially, you take whatever fruit you want and throw it in a container with some liquid and sugar. And then you let it ferment. It eventually becomes effervescent and the fruit retains its original taste. Once it gets going you can just keep adding more fruit to the jar and it continues to work its magic. I've been eating it on plain yogurt in the morning and copious amounts as a snack or after-dinner treat. 

Here's how to get it going: 

• Combine the following in a jar:
• fruit (so far I've used fresh, frozen, and canned - apples, mandarin oranges, mangos, halved grapes, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple) - fill the jar almost full
• sprinkle in some sugar (maybe 2 T for a pint jar) - bonus points if you use some raw honey
• a starter of some kind, if available (see notes below)
• add dechlorinated water until the jar is filled almost to the top (you can dechlorinate by letting tap water sit out in a container with a larger surface area overnight OR by boiling and then cooling) - you could also add fruit juice if you have any on hand, but water works great

• For the first day or so leave the jar open on top (you can lay a towel or coffee filter over the top). This allows the wild yeast in your home get into the jar and start to work their magic. STIR OFTEN - several times for the first day or two. 
• Once you see a few bubbles, you can put a lid on it. After this happens you need to check it again several times a day to ensure carbonation isn't building up too fast in your jar. Because if that happens your jar can explode. 
• Once it tastes to your liking, stick it in the fridge. The fermentation will almost entirely halt but you'll still probably want to eat it in a week or so or the fruit will start to lose its texture, I think. I don't know. It doesn't last that long in our house. Haha. 
• Better yet: once it's going, keep it going. Put most of it in the fridge but use about 1/4 of the jar to start a new batch. Add more fruit, some sugar, and dechlorinated water. You don't need any started this time around because the leftovers from the first batch will keep it going. 
• I've found that if you're daisy-chaining from a previous batch it ferments MUCH more quickly. I've left mine out overnight with no lid and by the morning it was ready for the fridge. 

A note about starters:

You do not technically NEED a starter. The fruit on its own, combined with the wild yeast from the air, WILL eventually make a ferment. It will just take a little longer. 

If you want to try a starter to speed things up, here are some things you might have on hand:

- yogurt (needs to have live cultures) - add a T or so to your jar

- if you make your own yogurt and strain it, you can keep your yogurt whey and it will do wonders! - again, add a T or more

- if you have raw honey on hand, that will work, too. Again, a T is probably a nice amount for a pint jar. It needs to saw it's RAW because pasteurized honey won't have any of the good stuff still in it. 

- you can also try a tiny bit of brine from any other ferment (homemade sauerkraut, for example) but I haven't tried this yet and I'm not sure how it would affect the taste

I hope you enjoy your bubbly fruit as much as we have!