Cookery School, Latest Posts
My Fermentation Weekend – making fermented foods together!
Sep
I must say that I have become obsessed lately with finding out more and more about fermented foods. I have been making krauts, kombuchas, cheeses and all manner of ferments now for some time and thought I was doing pretty well. That was until my friend Stefano introduced me to his collection of fermented EVERYTHING in his array of fridges and cupboards.
I took a peek at his five year old fermented miso, and a huge gang of miso ‘projects and experiments’ that were on the brew. We made fermented turmeric together we embarked on a lovely (beautiful) collection of jars of honey that were fermenting various delights. The rows and rows of jars and bottles that included all manner of ferments and experiments was amazing!
It was then that I knew that I needed to get to know waaaay more about fermented foods. What I knew was not enough! I wanted to explore more. It’s true what they say – the more you learn the less you know – there is no end to journey when exploring raw – this is a journey that keeps on giving with so much to see and learn.
So Stefano and I co-hosted a fermentation retreat at his farm in Portugal recently and it was off the scale! We loved hosting it! And loved sharing our recipes and foods with others.
Here’w what Amina had to say about her stay with us:
Teaching in the kitchen: Making a range of fermented breads using heritage cultures and our home milled flour
Making nut cheese – using probiotics to ferment organic cashews ready for a second ferment of ‘souring’ – we use the milk also that is left (the whey) to make fermented plant based yogurts and more! Nothing is wasted!
Stefano’s five year Miso – which we actually realised was a SEVEN year miso! Wow! Tasted insane…
This is actually an ASHWAGANDHA plant that we found while exploring the farm! Amazing!
Stefanos sensational buckwheat bread. Fermented. Gluten Free and probably the tastiest bread I have eaten! Email me if you would like the recipe at stephanie@exploreraw.com
Sprouting nuts and seeds ready for fermenting and making a huge range of cheeses, sauces, and ready just to ferment in jars. Fermented activated food are OFF THE SCALE!
Me making some raw chocolate (we just had to!) learning how to temper with fermented beans. I am also doing the ‘not washing my hair’ thing to get my natural oils back. This is 6 weeks in and my hair looks a little wild – I LOVE it
This is actually a SCOBY smoothie! We used the pellicles (the big jelly looking discs) for making kombucha in to smoothies too!
This is what a pellicle looks like… its the starter for fermenting tea and making it in to a kombucha or jun.
Students making their own HERITAGE yogurts! From a culture from the fermentation guru Sandor Katz himself – all students get to take some cultures home!
And of course – theres always some light reading hanging around…
Keeping it juicy & raw
