A Curious Space for Cultured Things

  • Brined Beets

    Brined Beets

    Saying that the book ‘Bar Tartine’ by Nicolaus Balla & Cortney Burns is great, is an understatement. The talent and dedication of these people are so obvious and the way they share their techniques and recipes is just amazing. I had a hard time choosing a ferment from the book but decided to go for…

  • Mango-lemon habanero salsa

    Mango-lemon habanero salsa

    While leafing through the truly amazing book ‘Fiery Ferments’ from Kirsten K. Shockey & Christopher Shockey, I stumble upon a spicy Onion-Mango Ferment that tickles my taste buds, just by reading it. But I don’t have the ingredients the recipe asks for, so I decide to make something different with what I have in the…

  • Ghost pepper (or Naga Jolokia) hot sauce

    Ghost pepper (or Naga Jolokia) hot sauce

    I have to admit that I have been looking forward to giving these damn hot Ghost peppers a good blitz and discover what the results of 3 months of fermenting them tastes like. I started up the ferment mid December, after picking up these hotties at westlandpeppers.com, and made a couple of experimental small batches…

  • Blaukraut with apple

    Blaukraut with apple

    Red cabbage is packed with anthocyanin (antiviral properties!) and vitamin C. I am actually not a big fan of the braised red cabbage we eat here around christmas time, but the kraut made from red cabbage is rather surprisingly crunchy and keeps for a long time. I like the word ‘blaukraut’, the recipe (and the…

  • Fennel and turmeric ferment

    Fennel and turmeric ferment

    This fennel-turmeric ferment is one we are making often at Fermenthings (inspired by the @itinerairebisgourmand recipe). The bright yellow of the freshly grated turmeric gives the ferment a very distinct flavour and color. It is usually served together with a ceviche, where the fish is marinated in a kombucha & sour orange vinaigrette and served…

  • Fermented butternut squash

    Fermented butternut squash

    A while ago, an article in the magazine ‘Saveur’ caught my attention: in ‘A Living Larder’, Cortney Burns (Bar Tartine) gives some great ideas to cook with fermented vegetables. But before I can make her fermented squash and sesame dip, I indeed have to… ferment some squash. I decided to make a basic ferment with…

  • The future is orange: West-African sweet potato ferment

    The future is orange: West-African sweet potato ferment

    Here I am with a bunch of rather ugly looking sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are not the easiest vegetables to cook with. Their flesh easily turns into a mushy texture after steaming or grilling so I am curious to find out if fermenting these tubers reveal some qualities we were not aware of yet. I…

  • Seasonal Fermentation: what’s it all about?

    Seasonal Fermentation: what’s it all about?

    Like most of you i am confined at home, asking myself what to do next. Most of our activities are in standby (workshop, brunch, catering & production) so i had a look back at this wiki idea and how to make best use of it, now that i had time to spare. I came up…

  • Introduction To … Continious Brewing Kombucha

    Introduction To … Continious Brewing Kombucha

    With having Goutzi Kombucha as our upstair neighbor we are getting better and better at Kombucha brewing. What followed was a first encounter between Tomas from Goutzi and the public of Fermenthings. I now going to reconstruct the lesson, because i lost my note pad in between. But don’t worry, we started all over again!…

  • Introduction To … Lactofermenting Hot Sauces

    Introduction To … Lactofermenting Hot Sauces

      Hot Sauces, for those that love it like we do, is a bit of a drug: you always want more flavour. While the range of fermented hot sauces isn’t quite large in Belgium, making it yourself is a piece of cake. You only need some basic lacto fermentation knowledge and a good supplier of…

Got any book recommendations?