July Edition

 

 

First and foremost, here are sincere apologies for the radio silence…

 

It has been a while since I had a chance to write to you. There has been a lot going on at Get Pickled HQ in these last couple of months. I went from being completely out of action with a shoulder injury to having to deal with a hack on my website, and then being completely hectic busy foraging, gardening, and teaching and attending workshops all over the place.

 

 

So… let’s cover the bad first. The shoulder injury is much better but still an issue. I will have a better understanding of what is going on when I am seeing my doctors back home in August (yes, I am off to Brazil soon). It means I have to be mindful of production in the kitchen and carrying stuff around for events, but I am overall still out and about doing what I do best: making ferments and creating my mad recipes.

 

About the website, I had some malware, but all sorted – fingers crossed. Especially now when I am unveiling a number of new workshops covering the next 6 months!

 

On the side of the good… Well, the hot weather we had this last couple of months meant all the beautiful plants have come out with a vengeance.

 

 

So there has been A LOT of foraging, from wild garlic to three-cornered leeks, elderflower to roses, feverfew to meadowsweet… just to name a few. Even the mushrooms are having a good year, the St. George Mushroom rings around my house were simply insane this year. I have been busy picking, processing, and cooking as much as possible of this bounty. Well, and whenever possible creating some funky content to go on my socials. 

 

I am particularly happy with Elderflower Carrots in Brine, which is one of my favourite ferments of all time, I should say.

 

 

 

I had a chance to teach workshops here in Frome, and also went to Newbury and Wells for that. I had such great feedback that there will be a few new modules coming up in the next few months too.

 

Moreover, I have had a chance to attend a couple of phenomenal events. I have taken part in the Symbiosis Tour with Kirsten Shockey and Mara King – Bubbles and Brews in Wells where we looked into wild sodas, vinegar, and alcohol making amongst many things. It was a full-on 4-day residential that really taught me greatly on drinks fermentation and inspired me to create a new Fermented Drinks workshop.

 

 

I am really looking forward to sharing more koji, miso, and other mold ferment content soon. I have some plans afoot for miso workshops coming up, but they are not quite ready yet, so watch this space.

 

 

 

Mara and Kirsten also hosted a two-day event in London, the Mouldy Extravaganza, where they explored tempeh and koji making and its uses. They also had a chance to sit on a mind-blowing panel discussing the intersection of mold fermentation and other disciplines. This was such an important experience for me, as now I am much more confident in my koji growing endeavours.

 

I have also been spending much time coming up with a comprehensive program of workshops for the rest of 2023, which I will be running from Frome and beyond. And to celebrate this triumphant return of the Newsletter, I am offering a 20% discount for early bird bookings, so get your skates on, peeps.

 

And finally, there has been so much time spent organising exciting fermentation journeys of my own… First, I am off to Brazil for the summer holidays. This time, there will be a visit to the Amazon to see relatives and learn more about my family’s fermentation traditions. Then there will be a trip with my boys to Bonito in the Brazilian Pantanal (flatland of the Amazon Basin) where I hope to meet a native community and learn about and how to make their sacred fermented drink: chicha.

 

And if that was not excitement enough, I only recently found out I have been accepted to attend the Fermentation Residency with Sandor Katz in Tennessee in October. So I will get a chance to have an immersive experience in all things fermented with the guy who first inspired my very own fermentation experiences. So exciting!

 

I did tell you guys I was busy… And that is all for me for the time being. I hope to see you soon in one of my workshops! Until then, xxx

This Month I am Cooking… 

 

As I have been a busy bee, with a broken wing, these last couple of month were all about using as much fresh produce I had around and make snack-attack certified food… I was doing hot girl dinners even before it became a thing on TikTok.

1. Snacked on my radishes straight from the garden with some caper/mustard dressing.  

 

2. Miso banana muffins as bananas overripe so quickly in my hot kitchen.

 

3. Sauteed St George Mushroom straight from the garden for breakfast.  

 

4. Spanish tortilla with a kimchi twist for picnic.

 

5. A fridge raid of vegetable full dahl for when the weather turned cold again.

 

The weather in June was absolutely stunning. And even early July had its stretch of high temperatures too… And that for me means salads all across, especially now my garden seems to be churning away great vegetables.

 

During the summer Koreans do a non-fermented version of kimchi, known as summer kimchi – here is my take on it, incorporating summer fruit and some flowers from the garden.

 

I used the first of the cucumbers, but you can do that with tomatoes or green leaves too. The (summer) sky is the limit!

 

Ingredients:

 

1 medium cucumber

1 cup cherries pitted

1 cup of rose petals and fuchsias

¼ cup of chopped

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp garlic

1 tbsp gochugaru flakes

Fish sauce or miso (optional)

Salt

 

Method:

 

Prep your ingredients. I de-seed and cube my cucumber as prefer the chunky bite feel, but you can slice them if you prefer. I used cherries, but I have done this recipe with gooseberries too (as I shared in my Instagram account). Strawberries would work great too.

 

The roses are still going and add a nice floral note. Nasturtiums make a great substitute and bring a peppery to the dish.

 

Make a ginger, garlic and gochugaru paste. Mix all ingredients well – if you are using add your fish sauce or miso to taste.

 

You can serve straight away but if you would like you can add to a jar and let it ferment overnight.

 

Growing & Sharing

There was a lot going on these last 2 months but these are some of the highlights!