Notes from a Long Hot Summer

Experimentations, inspirations + ramblings about food, ferments + health. A round up of people, recipes, books and aesthetically pleasing kitchen equipment from the last few weeks.

Oct 02, 2024

Hello,

How was your month?

After two beautiful months on a road trip round France this summer, September has been spent back on the little island of Jersey with my family. It has been wet and wild and feels like winter has arrived overnight.

I’m missing the long hot days in Provence but feel less guilty about spending time in the kitchen making up big batches of fermented veg and playing with recent jelly experiments (the gelatin obsession has returned).

I think there is something about being British that makes you have FOMO if you’re inside when the sun is out and the cold and the rain seems to have brought a feeling of peace this year.

I’m normally pining for summer to continue but I’ve been embracing the chillier days and have had the slow cooker on non-stop since I returned.

There’s a little hot pot bubbling away in the corner of the kitchen with a constant supply of bone broth to make curries, soups and stews with and it’s been very, very comforting.

When I first started this substack, almost a year ago now, I thought it would be a space strictly for recipes - a more in depth and extended version of fleurmentation.co.uk perhaps.

However, using it more as a diary or a place to share ideas is something I’ve come to really love. The post I wrote about the couple of days I spent in Perpignan and this one on nervous system regulation have become my most viewed substacks so far. I think I’m slowly letting this substack take on a life of it’s own and I’m learning to trust the flow.

These monthly round ups of musings and inspirations (which originally started with this post on whim back in January) has become one of my favourite things to do.

It’s so fun to go back through my phone from the past few weeks and see what was cooked up, experimented with, listened to and screen-shotted. It helps to cement everything in my brain. I gain clarity over things that worked / didn’t work and it gives me ideas for what to try out in the next month.

I guess it’s sort of a memo pad or written pinboard to summarise what has been buzzing around in my head the past few weeks.

I love reading through other people’s inspiration lists, trials and errors as it always seems to spark ideas of my own. Perhaps this list will bring some pings of inspiration to you too <3

I hope you enjoy,

Fleur x

Here’s a little dive into all the fermenting, books, substacks and food findings this month that were too good to keep to myself:

KITCHEN DELIGHTS:

Kitchen delights from summer included:

earl grey kombucha
kefir popsicles
kefir jelly experiments (see below)
golden kimchi
rice paper rolls with golden kimchi inside;
ALL the cantaloupe melon Provence had to offer
daily salads with lacto-fermented vegetables
seed cycling (also below)
turmeric and coconut cream scrambled eggs
quinoa made with bone broth, bay leaves and kelp seaweed
the best fish sauce label I think I have ever found;
mango and green tea kombucha
a watermelon tepache experiment;
red cabbage, fennel and carrot kraut
roasted radishes and garlicy kefir labneh
the search for the perfect grater (I think I might have found it in a giant french hypermarche - more below)
and an attempt for the perfect alfresco dining playlist

PEOPLE:

Sam Cooper aka Chef Sam Black

I love Sam’s instagram for all things gardening and fermenting (I tried his watermelon rind tepache over summer - see below for pics), and his new book has just come out for pre-sale, with official release in November.

I found this reel he posted with the first printed copy in his hands so heartwarming. I always hear authors say just how much work it takes to bring a cookbook together and this one looks particularly detailed. I ordered my copy this morning, can’t wait for it to arrive.

“From kimchi to miso, kombucha to ginger beer, The Fermentation Kitchen introduces you to the alchemy of fermentation – taking simple ingredients and transforming them in form and flavour.

Explore a wide range of authentic and adapted techniques from across cultures and continents and harness bacteria, yeast, and fungus to create a variety of ferments to add flavour to dishes, boost gut health, and give perishable produce a new lease of life.

Reconnect with these natural processes and learn to incorporate ferments into your everyday cooking with guides to flavour, texture and aroma alongside recipe ideas serving as inspiration.”

FOOD:

Cacao + Kefir Ice Lollies

France had a bit of a heatwave in August and probiotic frozen kefir ice lollies became my afternoon ritual. So easy, refreshing and felt a little bit decadent even though they were full of only good things.

They had to be eaten in the garden at speed before they quickly melted in the hot summer sun and dribbled all down my arms.

Made by combining a tablespoon of honey in a little hot water and blending it into the kefir. It was then left plain or I would add a heaped tablespoon of either cacao, matcha or turmeric powder - the mixture was then poured into ice lolly moulds and left in the freezer overnight to enjoy for the next few days.

Kefir Jelly Cubes

Another afternoon snack that needed to be eaten quickly before it liquified in the heat. Again, these were made with a little melted honey to sweeten the kefir and with an organic gelatin I found in the local supermarche.

I tried setting the first batch in a square rubber ice cube tray which just made my life hard as it was nearly impossible to get the jelly out in any sort of solid shape.

The second batch was set in a square glass dish and flipped onto a chopping board before being cut into cubes with a hot, hot knife.

The square dish and hot knife method won hands down.

Note to self: the amount of gelatin suggested on the packet works when making milk jelly. But, when making more watery jelly (i.e. with kombucha): double the amount of gelatin.

Seed Cycling

I have become a bit obsessed with seed cycling recently ~ adding in 1 daily tablespoon of flax and pumpkin seeds during follicular phase and 1 daily tablespoon of sesame and sunflower seeds during luteal phase.

Lunches above:

Mashed garlic-y avocado sprinkled with sesame and sunflower seeds, strips of fennel and turmeric + coconut cream scrambled eggs.
Sesame and sunflower seed courgette + carrot fritters with fermented cauliflower and red cabbage kraut.

Seed cycling is said to help regulate periods, reduce cramps, minimise pms + mood swings, clear up hormonal acne, ease breast tenderness and improve fertility.

So amazing to think that such tiny little seeds are such a powerhouses for hormonal health.

I’m still learning about the all the benefits, but you can read more about it here.

DRINK:

Earl Grey Kombucha

I don’t know why I’ve only just discovered this now. Earl grey is one of my favourite hot teas, so it makes so much sense it would also be a favourite kombucha flavour.

It didn’t even need a second ferment, it was so tasty straight out the kilner.

Earl grey kombucha at lunch with a lacto-fermented gazpacho on a hot, hot day hit the spot <3

Fermented Gazpacho recipe to come <3

Watermelon Rind Tepache

Inspired by Chef Sam Black (having a bit of a Sam Black theme this month), by following his method here.

It came out sweet and delicious served over ice in the evenings. It didn’t come out as fizzy as the classic pineapple tepache but still had a nice tang to it and I have been thinking of experimenting with little cubes of watermelon tepache jelly with the tepache I have left.

FERMENTS:

Tie-Dyed Lacto-Fermented Cauliflower

Discovered after lacto-fermenting cauliflower and radishes in the same kilner and having a nice colourful surprise when the cauliflower came out a soft baby pink.

Been experimenting these past couple of weeks with turmeric and beetroot to hopefully get bright shades of yellow and red. The cauliflower has been fermented in a simple 2% brine solution with a teaspoon of turmeric powder and slices of raw beetroot.

Strips of red cabbage are next on the list to try ~ hoping for a more purple-y tone. I’ll keep you updated.

WATCHES + LISTENS:

Gut Health on Masterclass ~ with fermentation wizard David Zilber and brain-gut-microbiome expert Dr. Emeran Mayer.
Dr. Mindy Pelz on Diary of a CEO ~ I was hooked from start to finish ~ on fasting for women, hormone health and working in sync with your cycle.
Fast Like a Girl by Mindy Pelz ~ the podcast above naturally led me to download the book which I listened to on evening walks around the little village I was staying in (on Spotify here or Audible here)
The Glucose Goddess Method by Jessie Inchauspé ~ I’ve heard this book referenced so many times and I’ve only just started listening to it now. So helpful with all the hacks on how to reduce sugar spikes and keep your blood sugar regulated (on Spotify here or Audibile here).

WISHLIST:

A Really Good Grater

After staying in a few different airbnb’s recently, I’ve noticed sometimes it’s hard to find a sharp knife. Although, what has been bothering me the most is the lack of a stand up box grater ~ something I never knew I would miss so much.

Graters above from Agata, Mademoiselle, Harts of Sur & Zara Home

I took a trip to the local hypermarche in Provence (after I realised the one at the house I was to stay at for a month wouldn’t be able to manage the amount of carrots I was planning to grate to make one of my favourite ferments) and I think I might have found my favourite grater to date.

It’s a classic metal box grater, but it comes with a plastic container that neatly fits underneath to catch all the grated goods (plus a handy lid).

I honestly didn’t think I would use the container and bought the grater because it was the only four sided one in the shop, but that little plastic container is now my favourite thing about the grater. Everything falls neatly inside, there’s less grated mess and you can store extra grated carrot (or cheese) for later. I don’t know who first invented the addition of that little container that fits perfectly underneath, but it’s genius.

I couldn’t find the exact one I bought, but it’s very similar to the Joseph Joseph one here.

PLAYLIST:

Alfresco Dining (maybe the best type of dining).

Maybe a bit cold now for those of us in the UK but if you are living somewhere where it’s still warm enough in the evenings to have dinner outside, I spent a few days trying to work out the best songs to eat to under the setting sun <3