Fermentation is an excellent way to preserve what would normally be thrown in the bin – and I hate to see any food go to waste. A significant part of what I do at Rough Rice is based around waste minimisation, working with organisations like MONA to reduce what vegetable matter goes into their compost. For example, 350 kilograms of leftover vegetables from last year’s Dark Mofo have been fermented into a ‘salsa’ that will be their base sauce for this year’s festival. Full circle.

Around Hobart I have a network of small-scale farmer friends who will often call me saying, “I’ve got 60 kilograms of cucumbers (or turnips, squash, tomatoes…) that aren’t pretty enough to sell to restaurants – is there anything you can do with them?” The answer is nearly always yes.

Beetroot is a vegetable I’m playing with a lot. For 1kg of beetroot, remove the leaves from the beets. Rinse bulbs in cold water (but leave unpeeled as the skins are where the good bacteria and yeast live).

Combine 30g salt to 1L boiling water and stir to dissolve salt. Add 1 tsp each cumin seeds, dill seeds and black peppercorns. Cool to room temperature.

Quarter beets and place in a sterilised glass jar (or jars).

Press down as much as possible, then top with the brine to 2cm from top of jar. Add leaves and press to submerge everything under the brine to make it anaerobic.

Set aside at room temperature for 1 month, opening every 3 days to release the carbon dioxide.

For a probiotic dip, drain beets and whiz in a food processor with leaves and enough olive oil to make a smooth puree. Add 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp nigella seeds and 1 tbs fresh dill. Season.

Store and select
Buy beetroot that have a firm, untarnished bulb and bright, crisp leaves. Trim the leaves and store in a plastic bag or wrapped in a clean tea towel in the fridge. Store bulbs in the crisper compartment of the fridge.

Goes with
Goat’s cheese, lemon, garlic, pumpkin seeds, chickpeas, tahini, wholegrains, vinegar, cumin, coriander, salmon, dill, parmesan cheese.