Fermentation in Action
An exciting residency
I’m spending a week at The Ecology Center in Orange County, California. It’s a 30-acre organic & regenerative farm with a market, café, bakery, and more. They invited me to be part of their Hearth series, where visiting chefs live on the farm and make a meal that reflects the place and time—and their own personality, of course. I’m also helping the crew out with some fermentation knowhow, showing them ways to get more mileage out of the produce they grow by transforming scraps, trimmings, byproducts, and more into various ferments.
There are a few spots left, so if you’re in the area join us—or pass this on to friends in the area. Tickets are at the Hearth link above. The farm is stunning, and the pavilion is a wonderful setting for a meal like this.
I’ll have much more to say after the event, but in the meantime I just wanted to show you some of the things I’ve made in the last couple of days. The Hearth meal follows a specific pattern, so the dishes I create have to hit certain marks—specifically the four main courses each have to draw on one quadrant of the farm. The four sections are market garden, milpa, legumes and cover crops, and fruit.
Here’s a partial list, from left to right:
Beets in whey brine (3%)
I generally use a 3% or slightly higher brine for whole vegetables like this. These are only brining overnight so they won’t ferment much; this is more for seasoning them before we nixtamalize them and then roast them in embers.
Scallions in whey brine (3%)
These are going to get used in two different meals: pizza night on Friday and Hearth on Saturday.
Grapes in brine (2% total)
These are for a fish dish that will incorporate the chile brine and other elements.
Plum slices in honey
These (and their syrup) will be part of dessert.
Fermented, oil-cured Fresno chiles
These will go on the pizza I’m contributing to Friday’s party.
Fennel braised in whey
This is for the market garden dish.
Ricotta curdled with fig sap and lemon juice
So is this, and it’s also where the whey came from.
Cream infused with peach and almond leaves
This is for dessert.
The brine from fermenting the chiles
I’m going to use this to make an aguachile for the fish dish.
They’re not in the picture, but I also made two garums, a big pot of dashi, and a huge batch of tuna confit in olive oil. And probably some other stuff I can’t remember because it’s late and I need to go to bed.
So there you have it—stay tuned for some more detailed posts when I get back home. These are all simple methods, and most don’t require much in the way of prep, gear, or specialized knowledge. Use salt, sugar, acid, and enzymes to capture summer’s bounty! It’s fun and ever so tasty.