The Fermenters Guild Podcast

Fermenters Guild host Robin speaks with Sandor Katz about fermentation as a biological and cultural force, his forthcoming book Fermentation: A Natural History, and how fermenting reconnects us with food systems. They cover practical ferments like sauerkraut and miso, the influence of the Human Microbiome Project, and the role of teaching and small-scale producers. Sandor also unpacks the concept...

In this episode of the Fermenters Guild podcast, host Robin speaks with chef and fermentation specialist Mara Jane King about her incredible travels through southwestern China to document ancient, often overlooked food practices for her documentary, The People's Republic of Fermentation. Accompanied by her mother and renowned expert Sandor Katz, Mara ventured deep into Yunnan and Sichuan to learn...

Robin is joined this week by Kenji Morimoto , author of Ferment and Instagram content creator extraordinaire behind KenjCooks , to discuss fermentation's connection to cultural preservation and spirituality. Kenji, a fourth-generation Japanese American, explains how his book focuses on demystifying fermentation basics and how to utilise ferments in everyday cooking. The conversation dives into how...

In this episode, Robin spoke to Sean Roy Parker from Fermental Health, who describes himself as a visual artist, writer and landworker, who uses fermentation as a tool and medium. Roy told us about a recent exhibition, Man of Kent , where he fermented out-of-date beer into vinegar in an old pub cellar to explore how expired ideas around toxic masculinity and alcoholism can be transformed into some...

This week, Robin spoke to Rebecca Ghim, co-founder of The Ferm , a vegan, zero-waste Korean fermentary in East London. Her business upcycles overlooked ingredients like cauliflower leaves and broccoli stems from restaurants and farmers into kimchi and other pickles. Rebecca explained the logistical challenges of sourcing "waste" materials, highlighting the difficulty in convincing suppliers and fa...

This week, Robin spoke to Kirsten Shockey, author of Fermented Vegetables (now out for 10 years!) and co-founder of The Fermentation School . We covered everything from germ theory to making a living in publishing, and Himalayan gundruk to tempeh as a secret food. Reaching all the way back to our fermenting ancestors, and the knowledge they've passed down, but which now terrifies us, because we've...

Robin is joined this week by James Read, author of Of Cabbages & Kimchi and founder of Kim Kong Kimchi , to discuss the process of writing a book about fermentation, the challenges of research and how to find an audience. Together, we dive into culinary evolution, the koji process, and crap bats, as well as trying to research in other languages, divining ferment origin stories and the truth ab...