From tangy kombucha to crisp, sour pickles, fermentation has a way of transforming the ordinary into something a little more complex – and delicious. Across Oklahoma, makers are embracing these age-old techniques, putting their own spin on the science of fermentation while introducing curious eaters to new flavors, textures and ways to preserve the foods we love.
Kombucha is brewed, distributed and consumed by health enthusiasts across the U.S., but did you know we have a unique, state-of-the-art kombucha brewery right here in Tulsa? Firefly Brewery, located at 1924 E. Sixth St., is making its mark in the fight for gut health.
A carbonated probiotic beverage, kombucha is consumed for its health benefits, and, although it once lacked palatial effervescence, Firefly Brewery and other brewers like it have revolutionized the once bitter tea, creating distinct flavor combinations, ranging from ginger to mango to habanero pepper.
Some say that kombucha tea, a common yeast recipe from Manchuria, is the drink of immortality. It is the fermentation, or souring, that produces healthy bacteria our bodies can sometimes need.
Rashel Hudson, Firefly Brewery Founder and CEO, explains: “I think when we can understand our own micro-biome makeup, and what’s really happening in the gut, we better understand how fermentation works, and why it’s so important to put healthy foods and drinks into your body,” she says. “Everything ferments once it gets in there is what people forget to remember. So, when you’re eating junk food or eating things that are bad for you, they are going to ferment in your body anyway. But, when you are consuming things that contain the good micro-biome that you need, your internal ecosystem is preserved.”
Pickling processes, very different from the creation of kombucha, are also one of the oldest forms of taste and food preservation known to mankind. Dale and Daughter, sellers of all things pickled at the Whittier Square Farmer’s Market in Tulsa, are experts in the form. Co-founders Lacey and Dale Wissen established Dale and Daughter as an LLC in 2014, stemming from a hobby Dale developed during retirement. Lacey brought her master’s degree in nutrition – and extensive experience running a popular pickling and fermenting endeavor at a Michelin-starred New York restaurant – to the business.
“The biggest challenge in our process is probably breaking people’s assumption that all things in jars are shelf-stable,” says Lacey. “Just because it’s a pickle in a jar doesn’t mean it’s been canned. Our labels say ‘always refrigerate,’ and we mean it.”
Dale and Daughter believes that just about anything can be pickled, and that pickling, like canning, seals flavor, nutrients and makes produce last longer – well past the harvest months. It is a byproduct of fermentation that pickles or preserves. That byproduct is lactic acid, the source of sour in fermented pickles.
“All vegetable ferments are pickled, but not all pickles are fermented. Fermentation is a form of pickling which yields a pro-biotic, or live, end-product, as long as specific temperature and salinity ranges, and an anaerobic environment are maintained,” says Lacey. “Vinegar pickles, on the other hand, are preserved by the addition of salt, and an external source of acidity, and are not probiotic … but they are every bit as versatile and delicious.”
Whether it’s bubbling in a bottle or tucked into a jar, fermentation is proof that good things take time. For Oklahoma’s brewers, picklers and fermenters, these traditional methods are an avenue to experiment, nourish and share something delicious with their communities.
