Well, technically whey, which I sort of knew what that was, but looked it up on Wikipedia anyway to make sure. It is “the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained.”
I was reading this Slashfood post which linked to this article on how the pickle industry may be in decline (yikes!) when I noticed in the comments someone linked to this article on an interesting description of the process of lacto-fermentation. Apparently the use of a vinegar brine is a recent development brought on by the industrialization of the pickling process.
Lactic acid is a natural preservative that inhibits putrefying bacteria. Starches and sugars in vegetables and fruits are converted into lactic acid by the many species of lactic-acid-producing bacteria.
Sounds tasty! Be careful though: “results are not always predictable.”
There are lots of other interesting food-related articles on the westonaprice.org site, but I’d never heard about this organization. Something about the site seemed slightly… odd. I got curious and decided to dig a little to make sure I wasn’t linking to some weird cult or something. The Wikipedia entry on them is intriguing but pretty tame. The most controversial thing about them seems to be an aversion to soy. 
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I would hate to say something wrong, but you know what? I THINK that this is to some extent the process used with sauerkrauts, or at least ONE of the possible processes. In theory, they are soaked in white wine and left aside until fermentation does its course, but I noticed that some commercial packages will also include “lactic acid”. If anything, it should mellow the flavour. Consider that red wine contains lactic acid since it undergoes a process called malolactic fermentation in which malic acid is turned into lactic acid, slightly increasing its pH value along the way. So, you probably already know how lactic acid tastes in a place where you would not expect it!
Duh… what a smart remark! Sauerkrauts are the first example that the article makes! Well, I hadn’t read it yet
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