Fermented Apple Butter — intriguing isn’t it? Before I fermented everything, I canned everything. If my memory is correct, my first foray into preservation was strawberry jam followed by apple butter that fall. I always loved apple butter and found the stuff in the store way too sweet, when I could find it. We grew up eating a lot apple butter during the part of my childhood that we lived near the Cornell Apple Orchards in Ithaca, NY. For me apple butter is all autumn and comfort. We ate it over thickly lathered cream cheese on toast. Yet strangely it also reminds me of my grandmother who asso ..read more

Building community with the love of fermented foods Join me (Kirsten K. Shockey) at Club Ferment, my new online chat-based conversation community. Let me explain.  I am hosting a club on DEMI, a start-up community that aims to support food folx—chefs, writers, recipe developers—by increasing conversations and supporting their work. The team at DEMI describes their platform as “a community-driven marketplace where people who are passionate about food connect, inspire and learn from one another.” DEMI does this by cutting out the middleman. By this, I mean conventional social media. It is ..read more

Yes, you can ferment herbs. You can ferment culinary herbs to extend the flavor season. And you can ferment medicinal herbs to maximize their effectiveness. And as those of you that work with herbs know the lines are often blurred. Gut soothing herbs—fennel, turmeric, dandelion root and ginger My first “garden plant” was a pitiful potted basil plant. I was in college. I brought it home watered it and waited for it to grow.  I imagined a large bushy house plant that would last for years as I picked leaves to add to all the gourmet meals I would cook as soon as I moved on from my diet of d ..read more

I am excited to share this book with you Preorder a signed copy Have you ever wanted to make your own vinegar? How about making your own apple cider vinegar at home? This book will show you how to make pantry staples like apple cider vinegar, but also wine vinegar and beer vinegar. Did you know you can make vinegar with brown bananas? Corn cobs? Raspberries? You would be amazed what can be made into vinegar. We hope this book does that—amazes you! But don’t take it from us… “Homebrewed Vinegar is as scientifically rigorous as it is historically rich. Kirsten Shockey’s elixirs will satisfy cur ..read more

First off, we should get straight on what we mean by apple cider because that term means different things to different people, depending upon where you live in the world. For most of the world fresh apple cider or apple cider juice means the juice of the apple, although apple juice can be extracted in a number of ways where as cider is usually reserved for grinding it up and pressing this mash under pressure to capture the fresh juice. What we are talking about in this post is the fermented version of that, and be honest, wouldn’t you expect us to be talking about the fermented version? We con ..read more

Here is a Garum recipe that is an extension of our previous post about Roman garum making in Barcino (modern Barcelona) ancient times. At its most basic garum (also sometimes called liquamen) is seafood, salt, and time. Roman makers though, we imagine, were looking for competitive edge and some shoppers for unique flavors. Of course, the choice of sea foods was paramount in flavor and likely ultimate price. We’ve read in numerous places mackerel made a good common garum, including Pliny. The best according to a 10th century book of agriculture the Geoponica was made with tuna innards, blood a ..read more

If you don’t recognize the name Garum you might have tasted, or at least smelled, fish sauce from southeast Asia. Other names for garum fish sauces are liquamen, allec, or muria, but we suspect it is less likely you have come across those names. Two thousand years ago garum was very popular in the Roman Empire, having probably been introduced to the Roman palate after they conquered Carthage, across the Balearic Sea in what is now Tunisia. The fermented fish sauce garum was a staple for all levels of roman citizenry. Besides its concentrated umami punch it’s also an amazing way to prese ..read more

Kojicon 2021 is nearly upon us. If you haven’t registered yet you can do so here. Programs will take place at varied times of the day from Feb 22 - Mar 7, 2021. You will be able to learn and make along. To get prepared here is a list of supplies you might want based on the classes. Dry Made Koji Dried made koji is when the aspergillus oryzae has already been grown on a substrate, usually rice or barley, and is ready to us. You can begin experimenting with shio-koji, amazake, miso, and hundreds of other applications immediately. South River Miso is a family-owned, artisan miso compa ..read more

How to know when old ferments are still good? That is a question many of ask when we find a jar we didn’t remember we had. Lost and found ferments are real. We all have ferments that slip quietly to the back of the fridge where they get forgotten. In the spirit of full utilization and not wasting food I want to help you figure out what is still good (and maybe even tastier!) and what should be thrown out. How a ferment ages depends very much on what kind it is. The original ingredients will determine a lot about its longevity. Miso and other bean ferments generally keep aging and layering o ..read more

These aged fermented hot sauces are an example of the versatility of fermentation-preserved foods. They are also an example of zero-waste, or whole utilization, at work. If we are being perfectly honest, they are the result of years of procrastination. These little bottles are packed with flavor and feel in many ways like a time-capsule of gardens past. Years of procrastination? You ask. We garden, I develop fermentation recipes, we used to have four children at home…all adds up to there is often an abundance. There is more food than we can eat quickly. With fermentation this works out with ..read more