VISFI (aka Creque Dam Farm)–fresh off their Top 10 finish in the National Geographic Society’s Geotourism Challenge– kicked off their Fizzy February with a workshop by special guest Sandor Katz, a fermentation fiend and author of “Wild Fermention,” the foremost text about the ancient art of fermentating food, how it is an integral part of our culture and food lives, and chock full of instruction and recipes.
Sandor is an incredibly compelling speaker and teacher about his passion for fermentation. His knowledge and enthusiasm for the practice are infectious and I left feeling 
excited to try fermentation on my own at home. Most people might be thinking that fermentation only refers to beer and wine, but there are so many foods that you might not even realize go through a fermentation process, and fermentation as a way of preserving and transforming food is influential to the foods that we eat, and the agriculture that was cultivated in ancient times. Yogurt, vinegar, saurkraut, tempeh, soy foods and kimchee are examples of the variety of foods from all over the world that are fermented to create a more healthy and digestible food than in its native form. The process of fermentation often releases many more vitamins and minerals and makes food more nutritionally powerful. The native bacteria and live cultures from our bodies also found in fermented foods aid in keeping us healthy and harmonious with the world around us. Strong native healthy bacteria populations help to keep bad bacteria from causing harm to us or our food.
But, onto the workshop. After his introduction, Sandor whipped up a soursop wine in a plastic bucket with water, sugar, chunks of honeycomb and soursop chunks. With enough stirring the mixture would bubble up after a few days and then be ready for aging. He also started a ginger beer, a yogurt, passed around keffir cultures, and showed us a kombucha mother (the live culture that lives in the kombucha tea and imbues it with its powers– yum!).
After a delicious lunch, including a radish kimchee Sandor brought from his home in Tennessee, we got to get into the mix and started a sort of “kraut-chee” as a group. Everyone grabbed produce provided by ARTFarm and Creque Dam Farm, and got to chopping, slicing, peeling, and grating the pile. Everything went into the bucket and turns were taken pounding, or bruising the produce to draw out the liquid. Salt was also periodically added to taste before the mixture was jarred up and distributed for the participants to take home and experiment with. And that’s how easy it is to ferment! Chop vegetables, pound and add salt, before putting your mixture into a covered vessel. The key is to keep the vegetables under the liquid, and because there is fermentation action going on, you’ll have to release the pressure and push the vegetables under the liquid about once a day. Taste it after a few days and see how much longer it might need! In a warm, humid climate like St. Croix, fermentations will take a much shorter time than in a colder climate.
The workshop was a great and inspiring learning experience about food, culture, cooking and ways in which we can consume smarter. I encourage everyone to check out Sandor’s website, wildfermentation.com and even order his books, “Wild Fermentation” and ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved.” Many thanks to VISFI for such a fantastic program and I’m looking forward to more events like this in the future. And if you haven’t checked out their online food market, please do go to vi.locallygrown.net to see the organic produce and locally made treats and home items for sale every week. There is a Slow-Down Dinner on Saturday featuring Sandor and some wonderful fermented creations. I know spots were going fast, but if you were one of the lucky ones to get a spot, enjoy the fermented flavors and catch the fermenation fever!
All photographs courtesy of Alisha Westerman.
Reminds me when I was a kid. I would sneak off with some fresh cider, add some sugar, loosen the cap and let magic happen. Come back in a few weeks and I would have hard cider. Good stuff too.
I’ll have to try your recipe, Reggie! Fermentation is everywhere!
We made yogurt last night! it’s so easy and cheaper than the store!
RIght now the farm is buzzing with bubbly food creativity, as the Ridge to Reef students and Sandor are whipping up tomorrow night’s special diner!
yum!
My daughter Emily is in the R2R program and my mouth is watering up here in Maryland hearing about what they are fixing for tomorrow!