A Curious Space for Cultured Things
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Master Of Spices: Global Heat and The Art Of Spicy preservations
A Fermenthings exploration of chili, spice, preservation, and the history of heat. Heat travels. It moves along trade routes, through migrations, across climate zones, kitchens, and generations. What begins as a plant chemical—capsaicin, sanshool, isothiocyanates—becomes taste, culture, and memory. Around the world, cooks have found ways to stabilise and shape heat into condiments that endure:…
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Curtido, The Latin Cousin of Sauerkraut and Kimchi
Curtido, The Latin Cousin of Sauerkraut and Kimchi A story of cabbage, culture, and quiet fermentation A Ferment that Travels Across the world, people have been salting cabbage for as long as they have needed to keep food through changing seasons. In Korea, this became kimchi, fiery and rich with garlic and chili. In Central…
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Koji – The Mold That Can Change the World
Introduction Koji is more than a mold. It is a cultural invention that shaped the entire landscape of Japanese cuisine and, by extension, much of the world’s taste vocabulary. Scientifically, it is Aspergillus oryzae, a filamentous fungus first domesticated in Asia thousands of years ago. Spiritually, it represents a partnership between human curiosity and microbial…
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How to Escape Coffee – Part 2: The Search for New Grounds
Part 1 followed coffee’s long shadow through history. Part 2 begins in a smaller space: the kitchen, the lab, the table. Here we try to rebuild what coffee once offered, using what grows around us. What Is Coffee, Really? To escape something, you first need to understand it. Coffee is more than a plant or…
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How to Escape Coffee – Part 1 : The Bitter History of Coffee
Coffee is not just a drink. It’s a ritual, an economy, a memory of conquest and connection. It has fueled revolutions and morning routines alike — and perhaps, if we look closely, it can fuel reflection too. From Forest to Empire Every story of coffee begins with a myth.A goatherd named Kaldi, somewhere in the…
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RotFest 2025 – Circular Fermentation
Introduction Fermentation has always been about transformation. With the help of microbes, humans learned to turn milk into cheese, grains into beer, and cabbage into kimchi. It preserved food, created nutrition, and unlocked flavors that raw ingredients could never carry on their own. At Fermenthings, we take this ancient tool and give it a new…
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Saké & Tsukemono: A Journey from Rice to Glass and Plate
Introduction Saké (日本酒, nihonshu) is Japan’s traditional fermented rice beverage, deeply tied to ritual, daily life, and craftsmanship. Like tsukemono (漬物, Japanese pickles), it transforms humble ingredients through fermentation into something refined and complex. Together, they reveal Japan’s genius for coaxing depth and diversity from simplicity. Moreover, this article explores saké’s history, production, tasting, and…
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Shiso Pickled Gherkins
Shiso Pickled Gherkins A crisp and fragrant homage to cornichons, celebrating late-summer abundance There are moments in the garden or market when the signs of the season align perfectly: Tanya gherkins—small, bumpy, and full of snap—arrive in overflowing crates, and shiso bursts into deep green (or red) leaf, tender yet aromatic. These are the weeks…
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Master Of Peppers – Workshop #5: Spicy Oils, Italian Infusion & Chinese Chili Crisp
From aromatic drizzle to crunchy heat – two classic chili oils, two radically different approaches. This final workshop in the Master of Peppers series dives into the world of chili-infused oils, exploring how fat carries flavor across cultures. We’ll make two iconic versions: a smooth, fragrant Italian-style infusion and a bold, textured Chinese-style chili crisp.…
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Master Of Peppers – Workshop #4: Bengali-Style Cucumber & Radish Achar
A Seasonal Sweet-Sour Achar from Bengal This refreshing achar (pickle) draws on Bengali flavors, using summer vegetables like cucumber and radish. Unlike long-aged pickles, this recipe is quick, bright, and designed to be eaten within a few days. It balances sweetness, sourness, and spice, making it a perfect condiment for warm-weather meals. It uses vinegar…
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