Show Notes
[Level: medium] The next batch of episodes are all about koji. The first we dive deeper into the making process, which we briefly touched upon in season 1. There’s a lot more to this fluffy friend than a simple growth of 2 days! We discuss growth phases, how to recognise where you are in the process, koji-styles and how to judge the quality of your koji. The episodes end with a beautiful sonification of the growth process. The Koji-episodes are recorded with our guest co-host Maxene Graze; author of the Koji Collection substack. She translates articles about koji from Japanese to English, to help broaden everyone’s knowledge about this fungus. To read the article on which this episode was based and see illustrations of the different types of koji, go to https://thekojicollection.substack.com/p/visuals-of-koji.
We'd also like to invite our listeners to share pictures of koji they made: good and bad. Once we have a proper collection, we will make a post containing all these pictures to help you recognise all different forms, succeses and failures.
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More from Fermentation Cast
[Level: medium] In this episode we speak with Juan Agustín Muños Vildósola, or for friends and family: Tato, about his work at Spora. At Spora, inventions from the Alchemist restaurant are translated to scalable solution. Think cocoa-free chocolate or creating salmon flavours without salmon. We also dive deeper into a very special fungus called Neurospora. If you do not come from Indonesia, this fungus is probably pretty novel for you. It grows on practically anything and produces fruity flavours. Could this be the next big hit after koji? Listen to Tato and decide if you want to work with it ;-)
[Level: beginner] This week we dive into the joys and pains of running a shop in fermented goodies. Ezio Bertorelli runs Meta Ferments together with his girlfriend Romina Navarro. At Meta Ferments, they produce delicious artisanal ferments like miso, tamari and shio koji. Besides selling mouth-watering fermented goodies, Ezio helps third parties in the development of fermented products. We talk about how he turned from being a Michelin-trained chef to a shop owner, the joys and pains of scaling up a fermentation and how he ensures every ferment remains of super high quality.
[Level: beginner] At Copenhagen’s two star restaurant The Alchemist, tea is sometimes an ingredient in a recipe. However, primarily it stands as a beverage on its own. Tea sommelier Sarah Rosady develops a rich array of alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks, to accompany a great meal, excellent service and an evening filling experience that goes way beyond dining. My genius colleague food scientist Rebecca Rocchi and I talk to Sarah about the many ways she accomplishes this. Fall in love with tea and how its leaves transform before drying and after fermentation.
[Level: medium] Our modern food system is efficient, but creates a gigantic amount of food waste. Carrot tops, animal carcasses and even invasive species in our sea waters. REDUCED is a company that turns these waste streams into tasty broths that can be used to spice up any dish. In this episode we speak with their interim Head of R&D Rebecca Rocchi. Using koji ánd industrial enzymes, she efficiently extracts flavour from underutilised ingredients. With her PhD in food fermentation she can clearly explain the science behind the process and how it enhances flavour by elaborating on umami, kokumi and other sexy compounds generated by fermentation.