How to ferment vegetables

Fermented vegetables have a pleasant sour taste, and are easy to digest. They contain "good bacteria" lactobacillus, which helps keep your intestines healthy.

Here is how to do it.

First you need some glass jars with lids. I use old Douwe Egberts coffee jars - the large ones. They have a nice wide mouth and a tight lid.

Wash them thoroughly and then sterilise them by placing them in a hot oven for 15 minutes.

Once the jars have cooled down again, slice your vegetables and add them to the jars. You can ferment any type of vegetable - carrots, onions, cabbage, peppers, celery, anything you want to pickle basically.

Next, make a brine by mixing a table spoon of table salt with a glass of water. Make sure the salt is dissolved properly, and then pour the salty water over the vegetables in the jar. Make sure the water covers the vegetables completely and fill it right to the top of the jar. Then fasten the lids on tight, and put the jars in a dark cool place. Within a week the vegetables will have fermented.

When you open the jar, there may be a white foam right on top - use a teaspoon to carefully remove this. After that, you are good to serve and eat your fermented vegetables.