Meet the Fermentistas – Become a (C)rock Star

Create fermented food not just because it’s healthy, but for the rich diversity of flavors? That’s what Kirsten and Christopher Shockey encourage.

Yesterday we attended their presentation at the local First Alternative Cooperative Market in Corvallis. Afterwards we videoed a Peak Moment conversation complete with their demo of how to make sauerkraut. They make it easy: salt the sliced cabbage, scrunch with your hands to get brine, press into a jar, weight it down.

Kirsten and Christopher are authors of a fresh new book: Fermented Vegetables: Creative recipes for fermenting 64 vegetables and herbs in krauts, kimchis, brined pickles, chutneys, relishes and pastes.

That title is quite a mouthful. But it reflects a multitude of recipes and suggestions for combining and serving fermented veggies (yes, even in desserts). We taste tested nearly a dozen ferments—from fiery pepper to salsa-like curtido and even some fermented seed crackers.

These fermentistas are artisans who’ve tried all sorts of flavor and color combinations for this living food. They’ve piqued my interest to experiment beyond the beet kvass and simple sauerkraut now quietly bubbling on our little house counter.

You’ll wish you could taste video when you watch the show, Beyond Cabbage − The Fermentistas Show Us How (278).

Find them at The Fermentista’s Kitchen (fermentista.us).

Check out Kirsten’s Ten Reasons Fermented Vegetables are Beyond Trendy