GUT INSTINCT
Fermentation Festival features probiotics to promote digestive health
Flavorful fermented foods are a good way to get your digestive system back on track naturally. Learn the benefits of fermentation and make your own fermented products during the New Mexico Fermentation Festival on Saturday, Oct. 19. Proceeds benefit the Hubbell House Alliance and the Bernalillo Quality of Life Community Fund.
“There’s workshops and demonstrations going on, talks about fermentation, and collectively, that’s about 20 different educational opportunities you have to learn about whatever jumping-off point you want to take around fermentation,” said Stephanie Cameron, publisher of the magazine Edible New Mexico. “There’s people that come that are interested in cheese or sourdough, some of the more approachable things. And then there’s more complicated things like miso and koji, which are Asian ferments. And then there’s all the alcoholic side of it — making your own homebrew, your own wine — so there is definitely something of interest for everybody.”
A popular fermented product is kombucha, sometimes called mushroom tea. There will be seven kombucha vendors at the event.
“All the things that are lacto-fermented that have some sort of probiotic to it, there’s definitely a health benefit,” Cameron said. “Kombucha is one those, because it’s lactofermented, and all those probiotics are present, and it’s all the good bacteria that you want to introduce to your gut that lots of us with our unhealthy eating have allowed our guts to lose a lot of that good bacteria. There’s definitely a health benefit to reintroducing it back into your diet through something like kombucha or yogurt or sauerkraut. Those are kind of some of the more heavily lactofermented products out there.”
Attendees will be able to create their own fermented products during two pickle mobs, in which guests will make their own pickles or create their own onion koji during the Asian ferment mob. Koji is a fermented rice that is used in soy sauce, miso and other Asian products, according to Cameron.
“(The mobs are) an opportunity for participants to make their own ferment and take it home,” she said. “You can’t finish a fermentation recipe in a couple of hours, but you get enough instruction that you can walk away feeling confident that you can set it on your counter and pay attention to it the way you’re supposed to so that in seven to 10 days you have your own ferment.”
The event, in its fourth year, previously was held in the summer. This is the first year it has been held in the fall.
“For the last three years, it’s been the third weekend in June, which has historically been the hottest weekend of the year,” Cameron said. “We decided to move it into the fall this year so it would be a little more enjoyable for our attendees.”