rejuvelac vs. beer

 

 

Oh dear. It’s St Patrick’s Day and I live in Boston… and if you’re not in Ireland, I doubt there’s a better place than Boston to have a beer in celebration of the Irish. I have never really liked beer, despite being Australian and growing up in XXXX territory (yes, Queenslanders can’t spell beer, and jokes, the stuff is rubbish). However, since moving to Boston, with it’s vast array of local specialty beers, I have developed a liking for porter. Dark, full tasting beer. Strange, no?? My parter suspects it might be something to do with my raw veganism… raw foods are so much more tasty than cooked foods so it’s only natural I like the most flavorful beer. I tend to agree, but still think it’s strange I like beer at all. Particularly since I’m supposed to be a ‘healthy’ raw vegan… ooops.

It also happens, that I seem to like the strong beer. So after one beer in the sunshine at Fanieul Hall this afternoon with Irish dancers and drunk college students, I’m a little tipsy! Yay ;)

So the end result is that I really logged on to write about rejuvelac – an entirely different drink, although I guess they’re both fermented! I asked my Facebook followers this morning whether it was bad for me to have left the sprouted berries in the water for a day + a night when the recipe said over night only… it smells! I have made it twice before. The first time was with a view to make Alissa Cohen’s raw vegan cheese from her (now closed) raw restaurant in Boston, Grezzo – I left it in the fridge for 2 months and never got around to it. The second time was last week. I made Alissa’s recipe (below) after reading Karyn Calebrese’s Soak Your Nuts detox guide, in an attempt to ‘ prepare’ myself for a detox… I actually drank it straight as she suggested to see if I could stomach it and it wasn’t too bad. But that said, I didn’t leave the grains in quite as long last time.

This morning the stuff nearly made me gag, although I’m hoping I can use it in Karyn’s Green Meal Smooth, which you will have to buy her book for – it’s filling and tasty and good for you!

Ingredients (This makes 1 gallon…):

• 1/2 cup wheat berries
• 1/2 cup rye berries – Karyn says just use wheat berries, Alissa uses a combination. From what I’ve read, it doesn’t really matter, but I did a stupid stupid thing when I first went raw and bought 2 gallons of rye berries (and never did the same for anything I actually use!!), so I will forever be using rye :)

Or for a gluten-free version, use 1 cup quinoa.

Instructions (the real recipe is a bit more complex but I just do the following):

• Soak berries in a lot of  filtered water overnight
• Drain the berries through a fine mesh sieve or nut bag – place in a bowl and sit all day and the next night in a warm spot. You can rinse them if you choose but I find simply mixing them up a little to get the air flowing through does the job. They should grow tiny tails (sprout) in this time but if they don’t, simply leave a little longer.
• Place sprouted berries in one gallon of filtered water and leave overnight in a warm spot
• Drain the liquid off (save it – this is the rejuvelac!), and either keep the berries to repeat the process, or discard them
• Save rejuvelac in the fridge for up to a month… apparently after that you should water your plants with it.

Phew! Drink it straight if you have the stomach for it (I have never drank so much of it I have noticed any health benefits but have good intentions to try it as part of Karyn’s detox soon), or use it in smoothies/soups, or maybe even make Alissa’s cheese… it’s supposed to be amazing…