Boston Ferments connects, educates and inspires communities through fermentation.
boston fermentation
festival speakers series
At the 2017 Boston Fermentation Festival, we had an amazing roster of fermentation experts speaking on various topics related to fermentation
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**Watch videos of each of these lectures by scrolling down**
2017 schedule
speakers will start on the hour
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**talk & kombucha tasting**
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11am The craftsmanship of Meat Preservation
**talk & cured meat tasting**
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12pm Acid Trip: a journey thru the world of Vinegar Michael Harlan Turkell & Jitti Chaithiraphant
**talk & vinegar tasting**
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1pm World Ferments: a tour of the pungent condiment we crave
with Kirsten & Christopher Shockey
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2pm The History of New England Cider Making
David Dolginow, co-founder of Shacksbury
**talk & cider tasting**
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3pm Entrepreneurship & Fermentation:
scaling diverse fermenting businesses - common struggles & successes
this panel, moderated by Rachel Greenberger, Director of Food Sol, will include:
- Christopher DaCunha, Indigo
- Emily Greenhagen, Director of Fermentation, Ginkgo Bioworks
- Minnie Luong, Founder & Chi-EO, Chi Kitchen Foods
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10am-11am
Alex Lewin & Raquel Guajardo, authors of Kombucha, Kefir & Beyond
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talk
We will be demonstrating recipes from our new book, "Kombucha, Kefir, and Beyond". Making fermented drinks at home isn't hard, and doesn't require a lot of special equipment or ingredients. We will show you how to make a few easy fermented drinks. Beet kvass is a fermented beet brine that is a delicious health tonic you can make very easily with nothing more than beets, salt, a knife, and a jar. Pineapple tepache is a fun low-alcohol wine made from scraps of pineapple skin; again, no special tools are required, although we will show you a fantastic tool that every pineapple-lover should have. Finally, we will talk about the history and health benefits of fermented drinks, and why drinking fermented drinks is a good way to get more fermented stuff into your life.
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11am-12pm
Jeffrey Roberts
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talk
Ever wonder about the craft of curing meats? Or how food preservation was essential to human survival? Want to know more about how terroir affects the meats you eat? Curious about how immigrants shape food culture? Join us for an author talk with Jeffrey Roberts, author of Salted and Cured: Savoring the Culture, Heritage, and Flavor of America's Preserved Meats (Chelsea Green, April 2017) and sample some locally made cured meats!
bio
A resident of Montpelier, Vermont, Jeff Roberts is president of Cow Creek Creative Ventures, which is dedicated to developing solutions in the areas of agriculture and food policy, conservation, the environment, and community economic development. He was cofounder and principal consultant at the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese at the University of Vermont. His book The Atlas of American Artisan Cheese (Chelsea Green, 2007) was the first comprehensive survey of small-scale producers. He is a member of Guilde Internationale des Fromagers. He teaches the history and culture of food at the New England Culinary Institute, is a visiting professor at the University of Gastronomic Science, provides consulting services to a wide array of small-scale food producers, and is a frequent speaker in Europe and the United States on artisan food, sustainable agriculture, and the working landscape. His new book, Salted and Cured(Chelsea Green, 2017), examines the history and culture aspects of dry-cured meat from 1630 to the present.
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For more than a decade, Jeff was active in Slow Food International and USA, including service as a director and treasurer of the national board. Locally he served as a director of the Central Vermont Community Land Trust, Vermont Arts Council, and Vermont Fresh Network.
12pm-1pm
Michael Harlan Turkell and Jitti Chaithiraphant
talk
Michael Harlan Turkell, author and photographer of ACID TRIP, will take you on a fascinating journey through the world of vinegar. An avid vinegar maker at home, he chose to better learn his craft by meeting exemplary makers in North America, France, Italy, Austria and Japan, learning about an age old practice where the art has evolved over centuries. He also met with leading chefs like Barbara Lynch, Ken Oringer, Jeremy Sewall, Jamie Bissonette, Matthew Jennings, April Bloomfield, Massimo Bottura and Sean Brock, to witness vinegar's wide ranging effects in dishes like Sweet & Sour Peppers, Vinegar Pie, Poulet au Vinaigre and more. Hear detailed methods on how to make your own vinegars with bases as varied as wine, rice, apple cider and honey, and take home an indispensable resource for harnessing the power of acidity!
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bios
Michael Harlan Turkell is an award-winning food photographer and cookbook author. He has photographed many prominent chefs’ cookbooks and hosts The Food Seen podcast on Heritage Radio. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
In Acid Trip, Michael Harlan Turkell takes readers on a fascinating journey through the world of vinegar. An avid maker of vinegars at home, Turkell traveled throughout North America, France, Italy, Austria, and Japan to learn about vinegar-making practices in places where the art has evolved over centuries. This richly narrated cookbook includes recipes from leading chefs including Daniel Boulud, Barbara Lynch, Michael Anthony, April Bloomfield, Massimo Bottura, Sean Brock, and many others. Dishes range from simple to sophisticated and include Fried Eggs with a Spoonful of Vinegar, Sweet & Sour Peppers, Balsamic Barbecued Ribs, Poulet au Vinaigre, Tomato Tarragon Shrub, and even Vinegar Pie. Turkell also details methods for making your own vinegars with bases as varied as wine, rice, apple cider, and honey. Featuring lush color photographs by the author, Acid Trip is a captivating story of an obsession and an indispensable reference for any food lover who aspires to make and cook with the best ingredients.
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Jitti Chaithiraphant
Jitti Chaithiraphant’s passion for food started at an early age. His grandfather, who owned an escargot farm, and his mother furthered this passion. Chaithiraphant apprenticed at The Oriental Hotel under Jean George and Gray Kunz and at Ma Maison Restaurant, while still in college. Jitti is a chef and fermenter. He is doing a pop up dinner series named Spring Summer Fall which uses all locally foraged ingredients. Jitti is also a forager. Jitti is also heavily involved in fermentation and is a master fermenter. He teaches fermentation classes to the public and many chefs & restaurants.
1pm-2pm
Kirsten & Christopher Shockey
talk
World Ferments: A tour of the pungent condiments we crave
From piquant to fiery, humans have always sought to spice up their meals. In this presentation Kirsten and Christopher Shockey will take you on a brief tour of how spice moved through the world. You will land in South Asia, where the lesser known facultative sun fermentation developed achar pickles. This presentation will include a demonstration of this technique.
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bio
Kirsten & Christopher Shockey got their start in fermenting foods, first in their home, and then with their farmstead food company (Mellonia Farm), where they created over forty varieties of cultured vegetables and krauts. When they realized their passion was for the process, they chose to focus on teaching the art of fermenting vegetables. Kirsten & Christopher still experiments with new recipes, helping others set up in-house or farmstead “fermentories”, and teach classes at their farm and hosts small farm workshops.
Kirsten & Christopher lives on a 40-acre hillside homestead in the Applegate Valley of Southern Oregon, where they hav cultivated a handmade life for the last 15 years. Their days are a chaotic combination of parenting, day jobs, writing and navigating whatever the climate and the rural lifestyle throws their way.
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2pm-3pm
David Dolginow
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The History of New England Cider Making
It's almost time for apple picking!! And where there's fruit, there's fermentation. New England has a robust history with this special fruit and the fermented beverage that it creates - CIDER. Together, we'll explore this history, from English settlers to present day, and discuss fun ways to make cider at home.
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bio
David Dolginow is co-founder of Shacksbury Cider in Vergennes, Vermont. Each fall Shacksbury forages for wild apples that have the tannin, acidity, and aromatics to make amazing cider. Shacksbury uses this fruit to produce a special line of Lost Apple ciders that are available at select locations. Prior to cider, David worked at Sunrise Orchards in Cornwall, Vermont, although he originally hails from Kansas City and is a lifelong Royals fan. He currently lives in Weybridge, Vermont with his wife and expects his first child on Thanksgiving Day.
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photo by Justin Knight
3pm-4pm
Entrepreneurship & Fermentation: scaling diverse fermenting businesses - common struggles & successes
this panel is moderated by Rachel Greenberger, Director of Food Sol, and will include:
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Christopher DaCunha
Chris DaCunha, Senior Manager, Bioprocess Development at Indigo Agriculture. Chris is an avid fermentation enthusiast who also happens to ferment things professionally. At Indigo he works within our Bioprocess team using fermentation technology to grow up large quantities of beneficial fungi and bacteria that are used by farmers to restore a healthy endophytic microbiome to crop plants.”
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Emily Greenhagen
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Minnie Luong
Minnie Luong is the Founder and CHI-EO of Chi Kitchen, makers of award-winning, umami, probiotic packed kimchi.
Since launching at local farmer’s markets in Rhode Island in November 2015, her Napa and Vegan Kimchi are now featured in restaurants, food service, and sold in 70 stores all throughout New England, including every Whole Foods in the North Atlantic Region.
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