Fermented raw honey
http://www.culturesforhealth.com/how-to-ferment-honey]http://www.culturesforhealth.com/how-to-ferment-honey
http://www.wildfermentation.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3237
Fermented raw honey is actually an animal food made by bees, rather than a true plant food (and thus most vegans avoid honey and dairy products). I created a thread for fermented raw animal foods here -
http://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/display-your-culinary-creations/fermented-raw-animal-foods-more-than-just-high-meat/msg103007/#msg103007. I tried to add enough entries to make it worthy of a sticky, so we can post fermented animal foods there and fermented plant foods here.
Interestingly,
the things that are made in nature to be foods ALL ferment: Fruits/berries, nectar, tree sap, honey, honeydew, and milk are all substances that are produced in nature to be foods and they all ferment. Fruits/berries, nectar and tree sap are made by plants and the rest are made by animals.
Fermented veg like sauerkraut and pickles is frequently written about, but fermented fruits, nectars and saps are rarely written about. Here are some exceptions:
Orangutans brew raw durian wine in the wild and evidence "suggests that our ancestors regularly consumed [raw] alcohol as a part of their fruit-rich diet." (The Wine of Astonishment Why Drinking Wine Gets You Drunk, by Robert Walters,
http://www.finewinemag.com/docs/22%20WaltersAstonishment.pdf) - Thanks again to DopeDivinity for this source.
A game warden said that black bears are attracted to the smell of fermenting fruit:
Gold DiggersChimps and other primates also like fermented fruits, as this quote hints at:
"Extra ripe bananas give the recipe for our chimp gruel a nice strong flavor."
http://www.honoluluzoo.org/support-the-zoo/enrichment/chimp-enrichment-termite-mound.htmlTree shrews, which are quite similar to an ancestor of all Homo sapiens, drink fermented flower nectar: Tree Shrew Sober Despite Drinking All Day by Clara Moskowitz,
http://www.livescience.com/7540-tree-shrew-sober-drinking-day.htmlAcerglyn: fermented maple syrup (normally heated, but probably doesn't have to be)
Example:
http://www.donosborn.com/homebrew/acerglyn.htmRaw fermented vinegars made from apple cider, coconut sap and coconut water:"The ideal apple cider vinegar is in raw liquid form. It should be unprocessed and unfiltered, with plenty of "mother" in it. Any other kind of apple cider vinegar will be far less effective and may provide no benefits at all. In fact, some cheap imitations are simply white distilled vinegar with caramel coloring added!"
Learn more: Elizabeth Walling, Detox and Cleanse with Raw Apple Cider Vinegar, Tuesday, August 25, 2009,
http://www.naturalnews.com/026910_apple_vinegar_cider.html#ixzz2EZjBf0oO
Only one vinegar, other than coconut vinegar (apple cider vinegar) can be purchased in an unpasteurized form so that it still contains a natural "mother." http://www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com/category/coconut-products-coconut-vinegar.php
Claim of Coconut Sap Vinegar being superior to apple cider vinegar and coconut water vinegar:
Coconut Sap Vinegar vs Apple Cider Vinegar
Coconut trees are grown in rich volcanic soil, contributing to the sap's high mineral content (especially abundant in potassium - 192mg/tablespoon of fresh sap). Coconut vinegar nutritionally exceeds other vinegars in its amino acids, vitamin and mineral content, and is an excellent source of FOS (a prebiotic that promotes digestive health).
By contrast, apple cider vinegar enthusiasts say it heals a vast array of ailments and prevent chronic diseases of aging, largely because it is chock full of nutrients. However, according to the USDA Nutrient Database, apple cider vinegar has no measurable vitamins A, B, C or E, and the fiber (pectin) and amino acid content is zero.
Coconut Vinegar has an alkalizing effect in the body, much the same as apple cider vinegar. Although vinegar is an acidic food, when it is metabolized by the body, it becomes alkaline producing.
The naturally occurring organic acids found in coconut sap vinegar provide the body with important minerals such as potassium, calcium, sodium and magnesium. These and other minerals form compounds in the body that convert acid body fluids into alkaline. These are known as alkalizing minerals.
Raw apple cider vinegar is touted by many as an alkalizing food that raises pH levels. Well known alternative health experts such as Earl Mindell and Dr. Robert C. Young, hold this point of view.
However, Dr. D. C. Jarivs, the physician who popularized apple cider vinegar as a cure-all and health tonic, recommended using it to make the body's pH more acidic. He found that his patients were more alkaline before they became sick, and that making the body more acidic helped prevent illness.
Since there is no clear consensus about acid/alkaline nature of vinegar, the best way to know how your own body responds is to regularly test your urine with pH testing strips.
Coconut Sap Vinegar vs Coconut Water Vinegar
There is a stunning nutritional and palatable difference between coconut vinegar made from the 'sap' of the coconut tree, and others onthe market made from the water of mature coconuts.
The sap collected from coconut blossoms before they form into mature coconuts, is universally revered in tropical cultures as the 'lifeblood' of the coconut tree. All of the minerals that aid the coconut tree in its growth and development primarily come from seawater along coastal shores where the majority of coconut trees naturally grow. The 65 abundant minterals in seawater are absorbed by the roots of the tree, and then delivered by way of the sap, to all parts of the tree. This sap is exceedingly rich in vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, all of which translates into the impressive nutritional profile of sap vinegar.
Aside from the dramatic diference in taste and nutrient content in sap vinegar over water-based vinegar, there are other key factors to consider as well, in making an infomed choice. Most noteworthy is the fermentation process of vinegar making. Sap vinegar is naturally aged for 8 months to one year, with not a single other alteration, thereby fully retaining and even enhancing its nutrient-rich properties.
Coconut water-based vinegar undergoes an 'assisted' fermentation process of only 2-4 weeks, by adding as a fermentation starter, either apple cider vinegar, or muscavado cane sugar to catalyze fermentation. Because of this, water-based vinegar is not capable of forming a 'mother' culture, thus resulting in a less nutritious end product. Sap vinegar, however, naturally produces a 'mother' full of alive probiotics, enzymes and other health promoting cofactors.
It is also important to note that the water from mature coconuts is considered a disposable byproduct in the production of other coconut ingredients such as coconut oil, coconut flour, shredded coconut, etc. Typically this water is of little interest, and is usually tossed out, making it much less costly to produce coconut water-based vinegar.
http://livesuperfoods.com/coconut-secret-coconut-vinegar.html
Claim of Coconut Water Vinegar being more environmentally friendly than coconut sap vinegar:
Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Water Vinegar is truly unique and is the first of its kind in the US market! Most vinegars are clear because they are distilled and originally made from white sugar. Our Organic Coconut Water Vinegar is not distilled, but raw. It contains the mother of vinegar. In the Philippines most all commercial vinegars are distilled, and the "coconut vinegars" are not made from the nutrient-packed coconut water from inside the coconut, but from the sap of the coconut tree which is used to make lambanog, an alcoholic drink similar to vodka. These "coconut vinegars" are by-products of the lambanog industry. To make these products, one must harvest the sap of the coconut tree from the coconut flower bud, which would normally become a fruit-bearing coconut. Hence, trees dedicated to harvesting the sap for lambanog and the more common coconut vinegar will never produce coconuts. Tropical Traditions does NOT support coconut products that prevent coconut trees from bearing fruit (this would include "coconut sugar" harvested from the flowering bud of the coconut tree.) Coconut trees in the Philippines have been on the decline for decades, and the coconut oil from coconuts is also now valued as a fuel source in bio-diesel production, resulting in less coconut oil availability as a food source each year. Vinegar made from coconut water, however, does not sacrifice coconuts or coconut oil in its production, as it is collected from mature coconuts which are used to make coconut oil, and the same trees can continue producing coconuts year after year.
Tropical Traditions is the first company to make a truly organic product from the water of organic coconuts which is raw and fermented with fair-trade organic Muscabado whole cane sugar. This is one of the most nutrient-packed and healthiest vinegars you will find anywhere in the world!
http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/organic_coconut_water_vinegar.htm
