Food Safari

Since ancient times,

we've found ways of carefully preserving times of plenty

for leaner seasons,

the methods of preserving food honed over hundreds of years

so the ripe magic of the season can be enjoyed year-round.

Whether it's sun-drying, curing, smoking, brining,

pickling or fermenting, preserving is an art form

and adds so much flavour and texture to food.

Welcome to the secret, specialised and delicious world

of preserving and fermenting.

In this episode of Food Safari Earth,

Italian antipasto using food at the height of its flavour...

Ah!

..the intriguing world of vinegar and a brilliant, fresh salad...

Yum!

..the fresh crunch of kimchi...

Mm!

..the art of creating Turkish pepper paste,

plus koji and miso in a flavour bomb from the highly-awarded Brent Savage.

Preserving food radically changed

the way we were able to live and travel.

Over centuries, new worlds were explored and settled

all because of our ability to capture the goodness

of fresh vegetables, fish and meat.

An Italian cellar is testament to the riches of the seasons,

the bounty and intense flavour painstakingly cured and bottled

to be able to create vast feasts at almost a moment's notice,

an abundance to withstand scarce winters.

The best thing I can have for lunch

is a couple of sardines that I preserve on some fresh bread

or some fresh tomatoes out of the garden.

Melbourne GP Pietro Demaio has always valued

the age-old traditions of preserving,

and over decades, has gathered a wealth of family techniques

into a hugely popular book that's become a bible for many.

The principles of preserving are simple.

First of all, you need excellent ingredients.

Seasonal, fresh.

Then the next thing is salt, then vinegar,

which acidifies it, which preserves it, and exclude air.

And that process goes across all of the Italian preserves.

How simple is it? Well, it can't get any simpler.

So, basically, you need a good-quality product.

This is obviously an eggplant.

And you cut it up into one-centimetre strips.

A chef would call that a baton. Would they? (CHUCKLES)

And then you just get a handful of salt

and you just go like that.

It has to be non-iodized salt.

And, already, it's starting to sweat.

This is a plastic colander, and then, on top of it,

this actually will allow you

to put in about eight kilos of weight.

And then if you leave that 24 hours, take this off and you can see now...

Wow.

..how this has all squashed down.

And it's lost 50% of its volume.

Then we put the eggplant in a container,

we mix it up a bit,

and then, basically, we splash on some wine vinegar.

So, now what we've done is we've left it in here

three-quarters of an hour.

Mm-hm. That's absorbed the vinegar.

It has. They've plumped up a bit, haven't they? Yeah, they have, and that's great.

And put the weight back on again for another 24 hours.

Right. You take this off.

And then what we do is we put this back in here.

Some families add oregano.

So, you might do one clove of garlic per aubergine.

Use chilli flakes.

Your own as well? Absolutely.

Now, the next thing you need to do is we actually add the oil in here.

You leave it for about half an hour. Gee, your oil smells great.

This is from our own paddock.

Just there? Just literally over the hill here.

Put in the oil.

Next, put in the aubergines, in this case.

And there you go.

A brilliant use of preserved vegetables

is in the inspired Calabrese explosive mix.

So, the whole point is that it's got to be hot and tasty on crusty bread.

And that's the mix. Oh, heaven!

Pietro's version starts with his eggplant,

plus preserved green tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms and chilli...

..olives, oregano, garlic and capers...

..a good slug of olive oil, and the mix fed through a mincer.

I am so excited to see this. Oh, this is...

I've bought this for years and never realised that it's...

How simple it is. ..actually quite simple to do. Absolutely simple.

Mm.

That's the bomb. Oh!

Oh, thanks, mate. Full of flavour. Mm, yummy. Oh!

On a crisp, clear autumn day in the lower Blue Mountains,

farmer Neville Julian is picking his 33rd harvest.

His apples are carefully picked one by one at their sweetest...

..which is perfect for local cider vinegar-maker Wirraninna Ridge

where Neville's daughter Matilda is in charge of the apple pulping,

mashing and pressing process.

We will take any variety. They're always from Bilpin.

We get them from a few different growers.

Oh, here we go. Ooh!

The intensely sweet juice is used to make a prized apple cider vinegar,

a business started by German-born Claudia Kindler

who came to Bilpin with her family in the 1960s,

learning the ancient art of making vinegar from her father.

Claudia, this looks like a strange science experiment.

So, you've got the apple juice, and, obviously,

there's probably a little bit of yeast in there already.

And it's going to start bubbling much more than that. Ah!

The yeast just lives on the apples, as does the bacteria,

which makes mother of vinegar.

These bacteria are the essence of natural vinegar-making.

They convert the alcohol in cider, wine or other fermented brews

into the ever versatile vinegar.

And if I drown this, it'll drown, and a fresh one will start.

The bacteria require oxygen to do their work,

so they build a raft of cellulose to float near the air.

This is called the mother of vinegar and is the same harmless film

that sometimes appears in old bottles of vinegar at home.

These little flying things, what are they?

They're called drosophila and their nickname is vinegar flies.

Ah!

And you'll find them on all rotting fruit

because what they live on is yeast.

But in living off the yeast, they transfer vinegar bacteria.

What do you, as a vinegar-maker, bring to this process?

Nothing at all. I don't add anything.

I don't take anything away. I just leave it.

It's like alchemy.

You know, you start with this turgid, sweet juice,

and then it bubbles.

Then it's very unclear for a few years,

and then, suddenly, it just clears up

and becomes clean and bright.

Vinegar is a much-loved ingredient for chef Marty Boetz.

The former executive chef at Thai restaurant Longgrain

in Sydney and Melbourne,

he's now dedicated to showcasing fresh, local produce

in the Hawkesbury River food bowl in outer Sydney,

through feasts, events, and chef collaborations.

Marty uses Claudia's cider vinegar in a salad

that his German grandmother used to make.

I grew up in Queensland,

so it was really hot in the afternoons,

and she'd fry some fish and then have

this cooling, crisp cucumber salad, and it was just delicious.

Sour cream.

Apple cider vinegar to moisten.

Tell me, a good cider vinegar - what does it do to the tastebud?

It's just slightly acidic

and it still has the taste of apple in it.

And I'm also just going to add a little bit of normal cream.

Ah!

Finely slice an eschalot, or you can just use a white onion.

A tablespoon of chives.

And then, of course, dill. Mm.

Sort of same amount.

And some parsley. So, whatever parsley you've got.

Oh, so, it's quite a rough chop on that cucumber? You can cut them finely.

You can cut them on a little mandolin.

You can cut them in different ways. Mm.

And then folding all that through the salad cream.

Mm!

Just a bit of white pepper.

A teaspoon of salt. Mm.

So, you can imagine it cold, straight out of the fridge.

With fish. Yeah. Yum. Really good.

I love this, though. Mm.

It is crunchy, creamy, herby,

and a total delight.

And thank you to your grandmother, yet again. Again.

When it comes to pickles,

most cuisines love to celebrate that delicious, sour crunch.

But even for the most dedicated, those tastes are an accompaniment.

For Koreans, fermented food is everything.

Pickled vegetables, or kimchi, is eaten at every meal.

This is more than just a food. It's a health regime, a way of life.

Kimchi has been part of the Korean diet for aeons.

Compared to the other famous fermented cabbage, sauerkraut,

kimchi's fermentation happens very quickly -

in just two to three days.

Many vegetables can be fermented with this method

and Chinese cabbage is a big favourite.

Sliced or whole, the cabbage is brined,

the salt draws out excess water,

destroying the bad bacteria and mould

that can spoil the vegetable

while encouraging the desirable bacteria to thrive.

The next step is adding the flavour kick

kimchi is famous for - garlic, ginger, and salt.

Originally a pale condiment,

when the chilli pepper arrived on the Korean shores

in the 16th century, kimchi turned a vibrant red.

Fish sauce and sugar are added...

..followed by chopped shallots and leeks.

The final stage of kimchi fermentation

happens sealed from the air.

The sugar in the vegetables is broken down

to produce healthy lactic acid and bubbles of carbon dioxide,

which gives the kimchi its delicious sour zing.