We all know chocolate is the best fermented food (I don’t make the rules), which is why it was so fun to talk to @sweetandsourcellar of @jst.chocolate ! We got deep into small batch chocolate production, the ethics of cacao sourcing, and fermentation flavor combinations. Read through and make sure to keep an eye out for her next pop-up! 🍫💕
The Exploring Fermentation zine has officially been printed! Thank you so much to @stanforddschool for providing the space to work on this project, @sandorkraut and the rest of the April 2022 residency crew for inspiring the idea, @arielle_johnson for providing insanely useful flavor in fermentation advice, and @tinysplendor for the amazing riso zine printing! But importantly, thank you to @mmi.chela for all your design work and being patient with me as we worked from zine_v0 to finalFINAL_zine_8.65x📚💕🦠🫙 Fermentation is a constant work in progress…
Both the flavor wheel and zine are on the rotten menu website, or stop by @alimentariaurora or @queens_sf for some copies (and pick up some delicious fermented snacks and drinks while you’re there to nourish fermented flavor journey! )
Abandoning the biochemical definition of fermentation, we know that food fermentation (to achieve “desired enzymatic conversions of food components” Marco et al., 2021) can technically include fermentation and respiration, both aerobic and anaerobic. Recent work by Dr. Sara Tejedor-Sanz in Maria Marco’s lab at UC Davis presented a novel metabolic pathway, called hybrid respiration. Turns out 𝘓. 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘮 (a very common lactic acid producer in fermentation) uses this technique to generate more energy than it would in a typical anaerobic environment, allowing it to have an additional advantage over its microbial competitors.
Wine is probably one of the most well studied ferments (mainly industrial wine production), but there is plenty to explore. Where does the yeast even come from? What has the most impact on final flavor profile? What microbes are responsible for off-flavors?
Unfortunately there are more questions than answers… full story following link in bio 🍇 ➡️🍷
Where do food fermentation-associated microbes even come from? Here we define selection, speciation, drift, dispersal, selection to help better understand how microbial communities for. Link in bio ⬆️
a few months ago I got to chat with 𝘵𝘩𝘦 Macklin Casnoff from @lovely._.bunch about his work with tempeh and it’s role in a flavorful and sustainable diet.
Link in bio ⤴️
Adding kefir grains to milk creates a thick, slightly effervescent and drink. Recent work by Kiran Patil’s lab out of Cambridge University described the ‘base camp’ lifestyle of kefir grain microbes: the yeast and bacteria move out of the grains into the milk, driving fermentation and forming new grains.
Fermentation doesn’t always happen in food, but also in our guts! I chatted with #eligerrick, a post-doc in the @howittlab about protists (the current term for any eukaryote that isn’t an animal, plant, or fungus) and their role in fiber fermentation. Protists have been found in the gut of insects, birds, mice, cats, dogs, reptiles, you name it… expect the guts of humans living in Western countries.
Link in bio ⤴️
Filmjölk (traditionally named surmjölk), is a Northern European mesophilic yogurt, characterized by a buttery and slightly musty aroma, most likely caused by the acid-tolerant yeast 𝘎𝘦𝘰𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘮 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘮.
Like other mesophilic yogurts (with cultures that grow at moderate temperatures, ~20 to 45 °C), filmjölk tends to be dominated by the lactic acid producers 𝘓𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴, 𝘓𝘦𝘶𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘤, and 𝘗𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘤𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴 three homofermenters that produce the racemic ᴅʟ-lactic acid.
This time, @hcwastyk interviewed me. Hannah was my mentor during my first few months in the Sonnenburg lab, and we quickly became great friends. We chat everything fermentation: the current state of health claims, how making garum from impossible burger is gross, and about the female urge to move to the Alps and make sauerkraut. Link in bio ⤴️
While the microbes responsible for the fermentation of sauerkraut and red cabbage sauerkraut are similar, the difference in nutrients between the cabbages result in different nutrient profiles in the final ferments. Red cabbage sauerkraut is higher in antioxidants, flavonoids (including anthocyanins), and various phenolic acids like caffeic, syringic, p-coumaric, and trans-o-hydroxycinnamic acid.
There is also initial evidence that red cabbage sauerkraut might be a lower in certain fermentable fiber, which can cause gastrointestinal symptoms in those with IBS (and why sauerkraut might cause GI problems for some). If you tend to be sensitive to fermented foods but what to try to incorporate more into your diet, trying a small amount of red cabbage sauerkraut is a good place to start.
Tempe (or tempeh) is an incredibly versatile ferment. The molds 𝘙. 𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘴 and 𝘙. 𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘻𝘢𝘦 can transform legumes and grains into perfect protein patties, ready to soak up any flavor and a great alternative to meat in both nutritional value and sustainability.
It is also a perfect example of how pH helps to favor one microbe over another. By first soaking the base legumes or grains in water, they undergo primary fermentation (driven by environmental bacterial strains) helping to drop the pH. Addition of vinegar before adding the 𝘙𝘩𝘪𝘻𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘴 spores further drops the pH, preventing growth of undesirable bacteria that might spoil the ferment and allowing for the tempeh mold to take over. Without the drop in pH, your tempeh might smell odd, have an off color, and the 𝘙𝘩𝘪𝘻𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘴 will not take over.
