FERMENT! at Hollow Reed December Events

We have two new fun events planned for Alexis' return to Manitoba this December!

Join the CoLaboratory at the Hollow Reed and learn to make some nourishing and tantalizing tastes to share with your loved ones this winter season.

Our events are INTERACTIVE, SPONTANEOUS and INFORMATIVE. Through taste, touch, sight, smell and discussion we will explore the fascinating microbiological processes that turn fruits and flavourings into effervescent and probiotic beverages.

There will be a PROBIOTIC SNACK AND SODA BAR, plus a DIY Station so you can take home your very own creation.

Enjoy having tasty treats in your belly, and a head full of knowledge!

December 10 - 7:00pm - 8:30

Herbal Sodas and Fizzy Elixers

December 17 - 7:00pm - 8:30pm

Cultured Seed Cheese & Spreads

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Cost : $35 

*** We do everything possible keep our costs to a minimum and raise enough funds to keep this project going. If the cost is a barrier for you, please send us a message: we can make sliding scale, barter and reduced fee arrangements! ***

FERMENT!

Introducing a very special fall workshop with Edible Alchemy CoLaboratory!

At this event we invite you to delve into the microbial universe with us as your guide. Through hands on experience and animated discussion you will leave this evening with your own probiotic (full of life!) creation and the skills to transform your edible surroundings into delicious, nutritious fermented foods. 

Over the course of the evening we will demystify the science of fermentation, how to minimize food waste health benefits. and much more.....

~ The evening includes ~

Assorted ferment samples like sauerkraut variations, wild pickles, probiotic dips and dressings, herbal sweets and more!

Salt Tasting

Recipe ideas

handmade Edible Alchemy info booklets

Do-it-yourself fermentation station (make your very own probiotic creation)

Edible Alchemy Pop up shop:

printed goods, specialty kraut weights, recipe postcards, starter cultures, cultured snacks

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Cost : $35

*** We do everything possible keep our costs to a minimum and raise enough funds to keep this project going. If the cost is a barrier for you, please send us a message: we can make sliding scale, barter and reduced fee arrangements! ***

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Tickets are available for sale at Hollow Reed Holistic Snackery and on Paypal: 

redux :: Edible Alchemy CoLaboratory

Just over two years ago, when we, Alexis and Natalie launched the Edible Alchemy project there were many visions for what it could become driving its activities. The project aimed to encourage conversations, experiments and a greater understanding about the microbes that make fermented foods so special. We also believe in reducing waste while supporting local food production so we use the principles of fermentation in creative ways to adapt to shifting supplies and changing seasons, making one-of-a-kind products for one-of-a-kind experiences. Fermentation is just one tool in a basket of food skills that help reduce environmental impact and promote a holistic understanding of how microbes influence the world around us.

Our mission to engage with people about fermentation wherever we can turned us into:

                                     CULTURE DEALERS
                delivering small jars of fizzy substances ranging from kombucha SCOBYS to seed cheeses by bicycle.

                              BACTERIA BARISTAS
                 serving up our herbal, cultured elixers at art shows, festivals & special events


                     WORKSHOP FACILITATORS
                        there are so many ways to learn about the (micro)//(macro)scopic world through the lens of fermentation. We have collaborated with many organizations: from community agriculture projects looking for more ways to preserve their harvest or a deeper understanding of the composting process, to English as an Additional Language (EAL) classes for some unique new vocabulary and conversation practice in a kitchen setting, to food savers who jump in dumpsters, to salvage vessels and tackle food waste with fermentation.


                      PRINTMAKERS
to spread the word and share what we know we employ the same tactile approach to the artwork that permeates our project. We use various printing techniques to add some special fizz to reclaimed materials with our zines/posters/labels/displays.

at sustainability drinks in Berlin, January 2015

Our rag-tag, shapeshifting crew has developed an international flavour, with projects and collaborations bubbling to the surface in Canada, USA, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Sweden etc.  Edible Alchemy CoLaboratory is a platform to promote food skills and creative experimentation through fermentation. Where this project will take us next has yet to be seen. Jump aboard!! 

Vinegar Workshop Berlin

Edible Alchemy – The Canadian established fermentation-skill-share team has made its way to Berlin and joined forces with Trial&Error this December in a ‘Pro-biotic Vinegar Workshop’. Trial&Error is an NGO focusing on Up-Cycling, Re-fashing and community creations in Berlin. At this workshop, participants learnt about pro-biotics, healthy bacteria’s and yeasts, and how we can use these natural microbes on our fruit to create something good for our bodies.

We used the surplus, extra-ripened fruit from Trial&Error’s weekly fruit-share to create unique fruit vinegars, which participants took home to continue the fermentation process and watch the bubbling magic happen!

Delicious pro-biotic snacks and drinks were eaten and great discussion made. Eyes were opened to the world of fermentation.

Keep your eyes open for the next ‘Pro-biotic Vinegar Workshop’ coming up at Trial&Error January 2015.

Edible Alchemy ::: BERLIN//WINNIPEG

As many of you know, one of Edible Alchemy's co-creators Alexis has relocated to Berlin and taken her bubbly curiosity with her to spread a love for fermentation out there. Natalie and an ever growing crew of collaborators have been busy in Winnipeg. Over the past months we've been concocting, circulating our zines and popping up at some fun events.    

Carly on set at CTV morning live -- do you remember this 

FEATURE we did with her last year? 

        
                                               


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           In both Winnipeg and Berlin we've been setting up 'Bacteria Bars' of probiotic homemade sodas sold by the glass. Our first one in Winnipeg was part of an art show titled "Women Wielding Knives: Exploring the Power of Domesticity" with the watercolourist Jodi Hildebrand and fibre artist Chantel Mierau. We served up apple pie and hibiscus-lime kombucha, some floral water kefir sodas with notes of lavender, vanilla, borage flower and rose, some warming ginger fizz and pickle brine caesers.  

For the months of December and January, Natalie and Alexis are reuniting in Europe to collaborate in Berlin and explore tangy food flavours beyond. Winnipeg, we'll miss you, but we'll be back soon with new cultures and stories to share. See you in the spring!

Blueberry and Rose Petal Kombucha bubbling

Where have we been all this time? Summer has come and gone.By now our gardens have been put to bed and we are slowly processing all of the fall produce. We are filling our crocks with the cabbage, greens and root vegetables that have been waiting patiently in cold storage.

Earlier in the season, our harvests waxed and waned. Some weeks were bountiful, others less so. When we have a meagre harvest (one good example is the obligatory thinning of beets and carrots, pulling small roots out of the ground that are often cast to the side). Rather than compost these precious little veggies we prefer to clean and pack them into jars, topping it off with brine (1 tbsp sea salt per litre of dechlorinated water {ie. boiled and let cool or water from the tap left out for 24 hours to allow the chlorine to evaporate} stirred to dissolve). We leave these jars on the counter for a week or so, keeping our eyes on them to ensure rogue veggies do not rise to the top and get exposed to air and ensuring that it doesn't bubble over causing a slippery mess. Then we transfer to cold storage (most likely a fridge), let those flavours build and add a dash of this tasty liquid to soups, stirfries, cooked greens, you name it! Be sure that whatever you add it to isn't hotter than body temperature (use your finger to check) so you don't kill those precious enzymes and beneficial bacteria.

selling our wares at rainbow trout music festival in August {my pet SCOBY, DIY kraut kits and prints, oh my!}

Springing Into Summer

Oh my my, it's been a while since we've updated the blog. During our short Manitoba summers it feels so silly to spend any time on computers. The spring felt like a mad dash to get veggies in the ground with dreams of pickled things dancing in our heads: turnip tops, mustard greens, beans, cabbages and herbs galore. With higher temperatures we are noticing our crocks and jars are bubbling more vigorously too. As we are starting to restock our shelves with newly preserved goodies, we are coming up with inventive methods for using up the remains of last years preserves. Large fluxuations in temperature make it difficult to keep fermented food for longer than a year (especially without adequate cold storage) and every harvest season yields an abundance of new foods to put up so our spring cleaning extends to our shelves. Out with the old, in with the new!

Recently, I discovered a jar of ginger carrots made on winter solstice by a member of our crew. Throughout the winter we added them to our miso soup for a soul satisfying snack. The remaining brine (liquid) had developed an incredible flavour over the months and it became the base of my new favourite salad dressing, a perfect way to showcase fresh spring greens.

Ginger Carrot Salad dressing:

• Brine from ginger carrots (our recipe was much like this one http://phickle.com/index.php/ginger-carrot-pickles/ but we shredded our carrots)
• Hemp seed oil
• Naturally fermented soya sauce

Eat on salad topped with sunflower seeds, herbs like chervil, cilantro and chives.

Nom!!