Tim Spector recipes to boost immunity, cut infection and slow ageing

Gut-health expert and founder of ZOE Nutrition, Professor Tim Spector, says we should 'load our plates' with more fermented foods, and he has published a book packed with recipes that will help.. His new book, Ferment, is a deep dive into foods like sauerkraut and kombucha as well as kefir and kimchi.

Spector aims to have something fermented with every meal, and says adding them to your diet is “far more important than any supplement you can buy”, as they support the immune system, help stop infection, reduce the speed of ageing, and even boost mental health.

He said: “We’ve evolved to have fermented foods and we’ve just forgotten. We just threw all the old traditional things out the window. We’re now back-pedalling.

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“The most important thing we can do for our health is to make the right food choices.”

Tim Spector has created a series of recipes in his new book Ferment. Here are a few you can try:

Tim Spector’s honey fermented garlic

“This is probably the easiest vegetable ferment you can make – garlic comes complete with its own microbiome starter and chemicals such as allicin, which deters other microbes,” says gut health ‘guru’ Tim Spector, author of new book, Ferment. “You will need raw honey for this recipe – honey that has been extracted without the use of heat and is unpasteurised, untreated and unprocessed and retains all the nutrients.”

Ingredents:

(Makes 1 jar)

2–3 heads of garlic

About 300g raw honey

Method:

1. Peel enough garlic cloves to fill a clean jam jar or Kilner jar two-thirds full.

2. Spoon over the raw honey to cover.

3. Close the lid and give the jar a good shake to combine the honey and garlic.

4. Sit the jar on a plate and store in a larder or cupboard at room temperature and out of direct light.

5. Turn the jar and ‘burp’ the lid every few days for seven to 14 days and watch the garlic ferment and transform the thick honey into a clearer, runnier liquid. The garlic may discolour, but don’t worry – this is normal.

6. Once the garlic has fermented it will keep for months in a cool place or the fridge. You can then use either the garlic or honey separately as standalone ingredients or try blending them together. Add some good olive oil and apple cider vinegar to make an amazing salad dressing. The honey can be used as a marinade, a glaze for meat, fish or vegetables, or do as I often do and nibble on a whole honeyed garlic clove, which in some cultures is believed to have health benefits such as warding off colds.

Variation:

Try adding other herbs too such as sliced fresh turmeric root, ginger or a sprig of lavender to the infusion.

Tim Spector’s simple kimchi

Korean condiment kimchi can take some time to get to grips with, but “this is a short cut for those who want a faster recipe, cutting out the traditional two-stage salting process,” explains Tim Spector, scientist and author of new book, Ferment. “You can use any whole cabbage, Chinese/napa cabbage and/or daikon (Japanese radish) for this recipe.”

Ingredients:

(Makes 1 jar)

1 cabbage or Chinese/napa cabbage

1 daikon radish

Sea salt

4 garlic cloves

1 bunch of spring onions, trimmed and sliced

1–2tbsp Korean chilli flakes (gochugaru)

1tbsp soy sauce

1tbsp fish sauce (or fermented miso paste for vegans)

Method:

1. Trim the cabbage and cut it into 4–5mm thick slices. Trim and peel the daikon and cut into thin half-moons.

2. Weigh the combined vegetables, tip into a bowl and add 2 per cent salt of the total weight.

3. Using your hands, massage the salt into the vegetables until they are starting to soften, then cover the bowl and set aside at room temperature for about four hours.

4. Combine the garlic, spring onions, chilli flakes, soy sauce and fish sauce in a food processor and pulse to combine.

5. Add to the vegetables and mix well to thoroughly coat them.

6. Pack tightly into a clean jar ensuring that the vegetables are submerged beneath the brine. If necessary, add a little 2 per cent brine (i.e. 2g salt for every 100ml water) to cover.

7. Press weights on top and loosely cover with a lid, then leave in a cool, dark place for five to 10 days until fizzy.

8. Transfer to the fridge and eat within one to two months.

Variation: Leftover kimchi

1. Chop any spare vegetables including peppers, brassicas, carrots and onions (but avoid anything too leafy and too soft) into 4–5mm slices. Finely chop a few garlic cloves, a thumb of ginger and two to three chillies and add to the mix.

2. Weigh the prepared vegetables and add 2 per cent sea salt and a good amount of chilli flakes (Korean or ordinary) and mix to combine.

3. Using your hands, massage the vegetables for a couple of minutes to soften and then leave in a covered bowl for an hour.

4. Then tightly pack/squash forcibly into clean jars, making sure that the vegetables are submerged below the resulting brine. If necessary, you can top up the liquid with 2 per cent brine.

5. Cover loosely with a lid, sit the jar on a plate and store somewhere dark and cool for a week, burping the resulting gas every day or so. Store in the fridge and eat within two to four weeks.

Ways to enjoy krauts and kimchi:

● Add to salads or stir into rice or grain dishes – kimchi is particularly delicious in egg-fried rice or served with noodles.

● Add to cream cheese as a spread – a great idea for kids.

● Add sauerkraut to a Reuben sandwich with pastrami, salt beef or mushroom pate on rye bread.

● With cheese and bread or in toasted cheese sandwiches.

● Add to dumplings or macaroni cheese or serve alongside scrambled or fried eggs.

Tim Spector’s simple sauerkraut

“Traditionally sauerkraut is fermented slowly at lowish temperatures – two to four weeks at around 15–20°C – to give enough time for the sourness to properly develop,” explains scientist and gut health expert Tim Spector, whose new book is called Ferment. “With a pH of 3.5, sauerkraut is around seven times more sour than kimchi, its spicier cousin. Red cabbage takes longer to ferment than white cabbage, and both work faster if you add another vegetable (like a small carrot or two) that contains a range of accessible sugars for the microbes.”

Ingredients:

(Makes 1 large jar)

1 white or red cabbage

1–2 carrots (optional)

1tbsp caraway seeds (or juniper berries)

Sea salt

Method:

1. Trim the base of the cabbage and peel away the outer leaves; set these aside for use later. Cut the cabbage into quarters and use a mandoline, food processor, coarse grater or sharp knife to finely shred the cabbage and carrot (if using).

2. Tip the cabbage into a large bowl, add the caraway seeds and make a note of the total weight. Add 2 per cent salt of this total weight, so if the total weight is 600g, you will need 12g salt.

3. Using your hands, massage the salt really well into the shredded cabbage for a couple of minutes until it starts to soften. Cover the bowl with a clean cloth or plate and set aside for at least 30 minutes and up to three hours until the cabbage is very soft and has released water.

4. Scoop the cabbage and any resulting liquid into a clean one-to-two-litre jar and really pack it down hard so that the shredded cabbage is submerged under the briny liquid and you have a clear 5cm gap between the cabbage and the top of the jar. Cover the top of the cabbage with the reserved outer leaves and place a weight on top. Close the lid but leave it slightly loose – if the jar is sealed tight it runs the risk of exploding!

5. Place the jar on a plate in a dark cool cupboard out of direct sunlight and leave for two to three days for fermentation to start. Burp the jar daily to release any collected gas. After seven days the sauerkraut should be fermenting nicely so it can now be stored in the fridge. Use within one to two months, depending on how soft you like it.

Ferment: The Life-Changing Power of Microbes by Tim Spector is published in hardback by Jonathan Cape, priced £25. Available now.