Spicy Sour Radishes

Sandor Ellix Katz, the author of Wild Fermentation and The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved, spoke at our college last week during the annual Sustainable Living Conference. After sitting through one talk/workshop of his on fermentation, one book-signing presentation, and one speech on food activism, I was more than inspired. I had a bag of radishes from the Farmer’s Marked in my backpack during his fermentation talk and when I went home that day, I sliced my radishes, sprinkled them liberally with salt and cayenne, let them sit, and then squished them into a jar.

This is what it looks like one week later:

And I can’t even put into words how happy the taste makes me feel. They are slightly sour at the moment, and somewhat spicy. I can’t stop picking at them and eating them, which is unfortunate because I wanted to see how they do after another week of fermenting.

I challenge everyone reading this to try fermenting something TODAY! Cabbage and radishes work really well, but almost anything will do.

Traditions Fair Trade Café

I decided to make more out of this blog than just a place to ramble or a place to share vegan food concoctions. I will now share about Olympia as well. When I have the money I will get a new camera, or have my old one looked at, so that bland text will be interspersed with beautiful images of this waterfront capital.

Let me start with a mini-review. I doubt Traditions needs a review, I was already convinced they rock before I ever walked through their door. One morning, being up early and taking the first bus into town, I decided to have myself a treat: breakfast cooked by someone else. So I stopped by Traditions, where I had gotten myself colored pencils the week before.

I was greeted by two cheery women chatting away behind the counter. This was only half past nine in the morning and this was a pleasant surprise. I also noticed that the few people dropping by all knew these women well, hence my reasoning that this is a place people visit much more than just once.

Then there was the vegan panini. Oh heaven! Crispy sweet bread stuffed with mouthwatering sundried tomatoes, tempeh, and so many other things. I couldn’t even tell because I was so taken by the concert of tastes tingling my tongue. On the side was a pleasantly plain green salad with lemon tahini dressing. Yum! Watch out, Traditions, I will come again.

While I was sitting, trying not to gulp down the entire plate in one inhale, I noticed upbeat and african-sounding music trickling in the background. The smell of coffee lingered in the air and I felt comfortable surrounded by rich dark reds and brown.

All that for a little over 4 bucks. A plus for low-budget people like me.