A podcast about the news and trends that impact the choices we make around getting, preparing, and disposing of our foods and drinks, seen through the lens of a consumer researcher…consumer…human…me. The podcast covers a range of topics related to the cycle of consuming food. DISCOVERY of new foods and cuisines. PLANNING what you’re going to make and eat. SHOPPING for food and beverages. PREPARING meals and snacks. DISPOSING of what doesn’t get eaten. EATING OUT when you want someone else to work. The goal is to entertain and inform you so I muse about what’s trending in the food world: new products, up-and-coming cuisines, food chain sustainability, “smart” kitchen stuff, digital shopping, and more. The recipe for each episode is simple: 1) A good handful of observations. 2) A couple of spoonfuls of insight from experts. 3) A thimbleful of first-hand experience. 4) A dash of whimsy. 5) Simmer until a story emerges.
Sandor Katz, a self-described fermentation revivalist and author of three books on the topic helps me unpack fermentation. What it is and why it’s so engrained in all food cultures. He talks about the role of fermentation in preserving food then explains how fermentation plays a vital role in helping us get the most of the nutritional content of food by breaking food down into easier-to-digest elements, like amino acids. Apparently, we don’t benefit from the full nutritional potency of manufactured, fermented foods. The better to make your own yogurt or sauerkraut. We also talk through how fermentation brings out strong flavor profiles. Acquired tastes, for most.
We are again turning to fermentation to show us the way. We are leveraging one of nature’s fundamental organic processes – a single-celled fungus digesting sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide to make bread, for example – to learn how to provision ourselves in a more sustainable way.
Bioengineers are leading the way. They are learning to mimic the natural fermentation process to create completely new foods and food ingredients through precision fermentation and biomass fermentation.
Audrey Gyr, from Good Foods Institute, a non-profit organization which promotes alternative proteins to animal-based ones, helps explain these Fermentation 2.0 approaches.
