Today I taught a fermentation workshop at CVSan in Castro Valley as part of the organization’s Commitment to Serve Week. The theme of the week is zero-waste. It was so much fun! (Thank you Jordan, Naomi and all the staff at CVSan.) But what does fermentation have to do with food waste? Well, I’ve decided […]
sourdough bread
Kitchen Science for Kids: Sourdough Starter Lesson Plan
Updated 09/11/18 If kids grow up more in touch with the natural world, they will feel less inclined to destroy it as adults. While I wholeheartedly believe kids need to play outside in nature, they can also learn about entire ecosystems right in their kitchens, using only a handful of basic ingredients. Any of the fermented recipes […]
3-Ingredient Sourdough Bread Made with Flour, Water, Salt
Updated 04/26/20 See my book for an updated version of this recipe. Every time I post a picture of a freshly baked sourdough loaf on social media, someone asks “Is the recipe on your blog?” Before I bake this weekend (that’s how I party) and post pics, I thought I better post the recipe here. […]
I Am not a Professional Chef and That Is the Point
I teach in-person workshops and online webinars, mostly on fermentation, and I need to create some new marketing materials to get the word out. How do you like this tagline? I have no formal training in food preparation™
A Tour of My Tiny Kitchen
Updated 10/20/17 I’ve moved to a different unit since writing this but he setup is the same. Last week, a reader left this suggestion in the comments: I would love it if you could do a tour of your kitchen in a future blog post. I would love to see which tools you find most […]
How to Make a Sourdough Starter (in Stick Drawings)
I taught a sourdough starter workshop last month and I really could have used some graphics to outline the process. Creating a starter from scratch may sound complicated (you can read more about it here and here) but involves only a handful of steps and your patience. I hope these slides will help explain this […]
Happy Birthday, Eleanor (How to Make a Sourdough Starter)
Click here to go straight to the recipe Updated 04/19/20 A year ago I wondered if Eleanor would make it to this day. I had baked with a couple of other sourdough starters before Eleanor came along, and I thought they exhibited fundamental flaws—they lacked vigor, they smelled too acidic, they produced lackluster loaves. As I’ve come […]
5 Things I Do that Were Once Considered Normal
I cook, eat and live the way I do for several reasons: I reject single-use plastic packaging I like to eat food that tastes good I prefer to eat food that contains nutritional value I refuse to depend upon corporations to fulfill my every need and desire Consuming less makes my life simpler and more enjoyable […]
Winter and Spring Fermentation Workshops
The idea that kombucha (or any ferment) is safe only in the hands of technical experts denies the long lineages of home and village production that spawned them and plays right into the disempowering cult of specialization. — Sandor Katz, The Art of Fermentation Last week, when Vlad tasted my first variation on sourdough bread (coriander-raisin), […]