This is Borş. An interesting word and food stuff. In Romania, the tradition I’ve learnt it from, it is sour liquid made from fermenting bran in water. Once filtered, the probiotic-laden liquid is used as a base for soups and as a drink.
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It is historically a food made from ‘waste’; the bran that would have been thrown away. In that respect it’s similar to the Scottish ferment ‘Sowans’ that I make – that was traditionally made with ‘waste’ from the milling of rolled oats.
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I am electrified to learn that traditions of disparate populations would basically *do the same thing* with waste from their local grain. That’s ancestral food wisdom at its best.
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So, living in Italy, I made this modified version with home-ground local spelt. All I’ve added is water. This is day 2 (I expect it to take 5-7 days). You can see the fervour of the ferment – the bran has been lifted above the water line thanks to bubbles!.
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I will use home-made Borş in our Christmas dinner, which is going to be a Romanian dish of stuffed fermented whole cabbage leaves. I made an IGTV vid yesterday of me prepping the whole cabbage leaves for fermentation, if you want to check it out.
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In the meantime, I’m drinking this liquid. It is good. And @irina.r.georgescu says I can even use the spent bran as a face-mask…photo may follow!!