Fermentation & The Gourmet Gut was the subject of our sold out event on 31str March and a great way to kick start the year. In 2024 we started a new series called Conversations Around The Cookery School Table – monthly panel events on food around topics that are close to our hearts at Cookery School at Little Portland Street.
These events offer opportunities for lively discussions, networking with like-minded food lovers, and, of course, the opportunity to taste some delicious food from our kitchen.
From the history of culinary ferments and microbes, to gut health and zero waste, our incredible panel really captivated the room, inspiring us with their knowledge, passion and recipes.
The evening began with a host of Cookery School produced canapes that showcased fermentation across the evening including kimchi, fish sauce and miso, amongst other ingredients. You can discover three delicious recipes from the evening that you can make at home.
Chetanya Alexander – founder of naturally fermented tickles pickles carried out a quick kimchi making demo showing how it is very easy to replicate at home.
In the early 2000s, Chetanya discovered kimchi and was hooked, making batches for friends before launching tickles pickles in 2015. Wanting to pay homage and deepen her skills, she travelled to Korea to learn from Jeong Kwan Seunim (the Zen Buddhist Nun in Netflix’s The Chefs Table) at the Chunjinam Hermitage. tickles pickles became the first kimchi on UK shelves outside of Asian stores, continuing her family tradition and embracing fermentation practices from around the world.
Chantelle Nicholson, chef and owner of Green Michelin Starred restaurant, is an advocate for seasonality and sustainability, and spoke about how ferments to enhance her dishes. She also explained how tell us how the ferments are driven by seasonality and not wanting certain food items to go to waste.
Ryan Walker, head of fermentation at London’s leading zero-waste restaurant, Silo, spoke about garum ancient Roman recipe which is making a come back amongst chefs due to its intense flavour profile similar to Worcestershire sauce. He explained how it is made at Silo, and also covered how a large scale restaurant differs with their approach to ferments in comparison to what can be achieved in home kitchens.
James Kinross Associate Professor of Surgery at Imperial College London and author of Dark Matter: The new science of the microbiome fascinated our audience. His research group studies how the gut microbiome causes chronic diseases of the gut such as cancer, and how gut bacteria may be engineered to treat cancer. James is currently supervising 7 PhD candidates, and he has published over 200 peer reviewed papers, and he regularly presents his work internationally.
He explained how we are gifted our gut biome from our mothers and covered how this influences our appetite and and our health.
Dr Johnny Drain is a chef with a PhD on a mission to unlock the secret science of flavour, fermentation and sustainability. He pioneered the use of fermentation to turn food waste and by-products into delicious things to eat and drink. He also co-founded food tech company WINWIN, who brought the world’s first cocoa-free chocolate to market, and MOLD Magazine.
He explained how the role of fermentation is probably far greater than anyone expects. Often fermentation is required to render products digestible such as coffee and chocolate. He explored the role that fermentation plays in taste and flavour of these types of foods and told us how boiling potatoes led to his Eureka moment for the plant-based chocolate he made at WINWIN.
Finally our panel was rounded off by Dan Lepard who is one of the world’s most respected authorities on baking who champions old recipes and techniques using the best produce from British artisan millers. Having opened bakeries for London chefs including Fergus Henderson and Giorgio Locatelli, Dan is an expert in sourdough and has more recently been experimenting with Japanese fermented yeast, looking at the impact it has on bread making.
This yeast is a new concept in the UK but widely used in Japan, and Dan explained how the yeast had a much subtle flavour than yeasts we are used to in the UK making it ideal for products such a brioche or croissants. It is also natural preservative giving the baked items longer freshness and shelf life.
Our Fermentation & The Gourmet Gut event also covered topics including:
- * How fermentation plays a part in the food created by the panellists
* How fermentation acts to preserve and add flavour to dishes across different cultures
* Essential and critical things to know about making your own ferments
* What are garums and how are they currently being used in the culinary world
* Plus, we heard from all the panellists about their favourite ferments
