Cybermacro - Macrobiotics + Macrobiotic Food

(African Millet Porridge) by Sandor Ellix Katz

From His Book, Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods. We sell this book in our online store.

Sandor makes the point that our ancestors, and virtually all preindustrialized peoples, soaked or fermented their grains before making them into porridge, breads etc to make them more digestible. This recipe for Ogi, fermented millet porridge, is typically eaten in Africa.

Nothing is better for gently waking up your digestive tract and energizing you for the day ahead than porridge. In its many guises, it is the ultimate breakfast food. Crazy Owl, my miso-making mentor, makes porridge that he calls congee, in the Chinese tradition. He places whole grains in a stainless steel thermos at night (with various healing herbs), pours boiled water over them, and leaves them to steep in the insulated environment overnight. The congee is deeply restorative. Lately, one of my fellow communards, Buffy, has been on a porridge-for-breakfast kick, and I've been a happy beneficiary of his mush-mania. Most mornings you can hear him cranking our hand grain-grinder, coarsely grinding whole grains, preparing for breakfast. He mixes different grains, toasts the ground grains in a dry cast-iron skillet, and cooks them in water, at a ratio of 1 part grain to 5 parts water. After about 20 minutes of cooking, they are creamy and delicious.

Fermentation can add new dimensions to grain porridges. A 12- to 24-hour soak will increase digestibility and creaminess without altering flavor. Sally Fallon, author of the pro-fermentation cookbook Nourishing Traditions, is emphatic about soaking grains to make them digestible. "The well-meaning advice of many nutritionists, to consume whole grains as our ancestors did and not refined flours and polished rice, is misleading and often harmful in its consequences; for while our ancestors ate whole grains, they did not consume them as presented in our modern cookbooks in the form of quick-rise breads, granolas, and other hastily prepared casseroles and concoctions. Our ancestors, and virtually all preindustrialized peoples, soaked or fermented their grains before making them into porridge, breads, cakes, and casseroles.

Her scientific rationale, confirmed by Paul Pitchford in Healing with Whole Foods, is that the outer layer of most grains contains a compound called phytic acid, which can block mineral absorption during digestion.8 Fermenting grains by soaking them before cooking neutralizes phytic acid and renders the grain far more nutritious. A short soak—24 hours in cool weather, 8 to 12 hours in hot weather—accomplishes this without affecting the flavor.

Then again, sometimes you want to affect the flavor. Not everyone likes their food mild and bland. Some of us crave intense sour flavors. The longer you allow grain fermentation to proceed, the more acidic flavors will develop, thanks to the presence everywhere of lactic acid-producing. Lactobacilli.

Ogi(African Millet Porridge)

Thick, starchy porridges are a staple food in Africa. Everywhere there you see and hear women pounding on grains and cassava roots, and most meals feature the resulting porridges as a central element. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, "Cereals account for as much as 77% of total caloric consumption in African countries, and contribute substantially to dietary protein intake.... A majority of traditional cereal-based foods consumed in Africa are processed by natural fermentation. Fermented cereals are particularly important as weaning foods for infants and as dietary staples for adults.

Millet porridge is called ogi in parts of West Africa and uji in East Africa. In Africa, porridges are generally served thick, with a solid consistency that you can shape and eat with your fingers, and are often accompanied by saucy stews. I have adopted ogi as a quick and hearty breakfast food that I enjoy savory, with butter, garlic, kefir, salt, and pepper.

TIMEFRAME: Extremely flexible, from 1 day to more than 1 week

• 2 cups/500 milliliters millet
• Water
• sea salt

1. Coarsely grind millet using a grain mill or other grinding technology.
2. Soak the millet in about 4 cups/ 1 liter of water. Soaking time can range from about 24 hours to 1 week, and the taste will become progressively more sour as the days pass. I mix up a batch, let it ferment, and cook it a little at a time over the course of a week or so.
3. When you are ready to make porridge, boil about 1/2 cup /125 milliliters of water per serving, with a dash of salt.
4. Mix the fermented millet blend to a uniform consistency and add about 2/3cup/ 160 milliliters per serving to the boiling water. Lower heat and stir constantly to prevent burning, until the porridge cooks and thickens, just a few minutes. Add more water as needed to reach the desired consistency. You can enjoy this porridge thick or thin, as you prefer.

Besides this recipe for African Millet, Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz covers in it vegetable ferments such as sauerkraut, kimchi, and sour pickles; bean ferments including miso, tempeh, dosas, and idli; dairy ferments including yogurt, kefir, and basic cheesemaking (as well as vegan alternatives); sourdough bread-making; other grain fermentations from Cherokee, African, Japanese, and Russian traditions; extremely simple wine- and beer-making (as well as cider-, mead-, and champagne-making) techniques; and vinegar-making. With nearly 100 recipes, this is the most comprehensive and wide-ranging fermentation cookbook ever published.

We sell the book online for $20.99 with free shipping. Wild Fermentation Please follow the link to find out much more about Sandor and all the varied fermentation foods and topics he covers.

Sandor offers workshops all accross the country, here is his up to date list of appearances.WorkShops

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Comments (4)

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Brett Adams said:

	Why cook fermented millet, or other grains, prior to eating? It seem's destructive to the porridge's nutritional profile to cook it after it has been fermented. Is there likely to be harmful bacteria and/or molds present in the fermented grain, which dictate a need to cook, as a means of making the grains edible? Is there an alcohol constituent formed through this type of fermentation?
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August 02, 2008
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guest said:

	... same reason why you bake a leavened bread after fermentation. not all ferments are eaten raw.
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May 31, 2008
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Guest said:

	... :grin :x
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August 22, 2005
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Guest said:

	why cook it? why cook the millet porridge after your ferment and grind it with a little water into a paste? isn't it already a porridge at this point? doesn't this defeat the purpose of 'live' 'raw' fermentation? would really like to know why it is then recommended to cook the fermented grain.
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June 14, 2005
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