Between my sister and mother’s love of fermented foods and my obsession with good condiments, Mighty Fine Brine is a great new small business that I will continue to enjoy! It is owned by a woman named Dina, who makes everything, and brings it to the farmers’ markets with a smile.
From kraut to ketchup, you will love these living foods that make your taste buds come alive and dance! We first had Mighty Fine Brine’s Fermented Horseradish Mustard at our passover seder as the local version or bitter herbs and my sister has been having it spread on toast ever since. I personally love her chili paste, but beware, it is insanely spicy – it almost creates an inferno in your mouth! At the Davisville market, we purchased a big bucket of Chili Garlic Pickles, a jar of Fermented Ketchup, a Strawberry Cayenne Fermented Chili Paste (watch it bubble here), a small batch of her Relish with onions, and consumed a lot of all of them at dinner. All great, but I do wish her ingredients all came from organic farmers, instead of just some. Her pickles are incredible and she has 3 varieties, all lacto-fermented, although they are not as good as my great-grandmothers, (nothing has ever surpassed those, not even when my mother tried to make them according to her instructions)!
Between Alchemy, Pyramid Ferments, Culture City TO and now Mighty Fine Brine, the markets in Toronto always have fermented foods and drinks (think Kombucha), I will make a point to review Alchemy and Culture City TO soon.
If you don’t frequent the markets (you should), because not only can you support these healthy small businesses, but you can take advantage of the fact that they will let you sample everything. Fermented foods are really healthy, have amazing flavours, and can be sweet or savoury! Let me know what you choose and like.
Thanks for good, good food, Mighty Fine Brine/Dina. We need more pickles already!
