What do with soft ferments?

I made a large batch of fermented red cabbage for a supper club I hosted last year (similar to sauerkraut but with the flavouring of pimentos berries and cumin seeds). After several months in my basement it had lost its crunch. I was none too keen on the soft texture and therefore came up with this dip to avoid waste or further neglected cabbage.

The result was a creamy and indulgent dip, with an acidic tang and subtle spice undertone.

Plus it’s pretty and purple.

Ingredients

-5 tbsp fermented red cabbage

-500g cooked weight black beans

-1 tsp salt

-3 tbsp tahini

-1/2 lemon juiced

– 1/2 cooked corn on the cob

Topping

– 1 large portobello mushroom

– 1 tsp red wine vinegar

– 1 tsp chopped tarragon

– 1 tsp pomegranate molasses

– cold pressed rape seed oil to drizzle

Method

– Add the cabbage, beans, salt, tahini and lemon to your food processor and mix until the texture is smooth and creamy. If it is too thick add water 1 tbsp at a time to get to the desired texture

– Thinly slice the mushroom and marinate in the vinegar and molasses for at least 30 minutes. If you don’t have molasses a bit of honey or date syrup would work well. Combine with the tarragon.

– Strip the corn from the cob with a sharp knife (hold the cob firmly and strip it from top to bottom). Break carefully into rough chunks. Lightly griddle them in a pan until they are just lightly golden in places

– Spoon the dip into a bowl with a hollow in the middle, arrange the mushrooms in the centre and the corn around it. Drizzle with rapeseed oil and serve with toasted bread