April showers bring... two workshops!

Hello friends of 100% ferments!

I will be leading two workshops this month at my place, a stone's throw away from Jean Talon Market.

On Tuesday, April 8, 2014 at 7:30pm, we'll make final batches of the season of versatile and sought after Winter Kimchi and crunchy Lebanese Turnip Pickles (20$).

Monday, April 14, 2014, 7:30pm, we'll prepare Sauerkraut and Salt-preserved Lemons to suit the sunny days to come (20$).

Workshops include an exploration of basic vegetable lactofermentation principles, different preservation techniques, and tips and tricks that will help you as you experiment on your own.

Participants leave with the fruits of their labour: jars of sauerkraut, kimchi, and/or pickles to ferment at home. They also get a copy of my "ABCs of Vegetable Lactofermentation" handbook to guide them in future projects.

Please contact Haley at 100percentferments [at] gmail [dot] com  to sign up! Please include your name, phone number, and choice of workshop

100% ferments at La QV

Montrealers!

Join me tomorrow, Wednesday, October 10th for a swanky apéro at La QV, "votre caviste", 29 Beaubien East. Julie will be cooking up a delicious choucroute garnie: my caraway sauerkraut simmered with grelots fumés (smoked cured pork) from Fou du Cochon de Kamouraska. Cyril has the wine covered with a glass of German white. Drop in for a chat between 5 and 10pm for some fun. Vive la choucroute!

Choucroute Garnie + German Chasselas wine = $12

Vegetable Lacto fermentation ABCs booklet by yours truly = $4

Montréalais(es)!

Venez me rencontrez demain, mercredi, le 10 octobre, pour un apéro à La QV, "votre caviste", 29 Beaubien Est. Julie cuisinera sa délicieuse choucroute garnie, fait à partir de ma choucroute et des grelots fumés du Fou du Cochon de Kamouraska. Cyril le sommelier nous offre un vin blanc Allemand en accompagnement. Venez jasez entre 17h et 22h. Vive la choucroute!

Choucroute garnie + Chasselas Allemand = $12

Livret l'ABC de la lacto fermentation des légumes (par moi!) = $4

Fall Puces Pop! Puces Pop automnale!

Hey Montrealers! It's that time of year again!

Please join me next weekend, Sept. 22-23 at Église St-Michel, the domed church at the corner of St-Urbain and St-Viateur, for Puces Pop. I'll be there selling sauerkraut, kimchi, curtido, some special harvest pickles, and of course, Pickles on a Stick!

You'll find us (the pickles and I) sharing a table with my friends Mel and Tyler from LEMO Lemonade... because they like it tart and tangy too.

Chers Montréalais,

C'est bientôt Pop Montréal!

Venez me rejoindre cette fin de semaine à l'Église St-Michel, au coin des rues St-Viateur et St-Urbain, pour la foire artisanale Puces Pop. J'aurai de la choucroute, du kimchi, du curtido, des pickles spécials de saison, et surtout, des Cornichons-Pogos!

Vous me retrouveriez à côté de mes amis Mel et Tyler de LEMO Lemonade - ils apprécient aussi le petit côté acidulé.

Green Scene

No posts since June, and now hot, wandering summer is coming to an end. Good thing these reminders of the sun can been hoarded away for the dark months ahead...

Fig. 1. Late summer bounty, left to right: okra with hot peppers and "fairy tale"
eggplants, sour dill pickles, and spicy green beans.

Fig. 2. Desert sunrise.

Spring Puces Pop

Come join me in celebrating one whole year of 100% ferments at Spring Puces Pop!

The event takes place this Saturday and Sunday, June 9-10, from 11-6pm in the basement of St-Enfant Jésus Church at the corner of St-Dominique and St-Joseph.

This time around, I'm bringing along the usual suspects, like kimchi, curtido, and sauerkraut for all of your bbq-ing needs, but will also have a limited supply of seasonal specialties, like a beautiful Giardiniera di Primavera (asparagus, radishes, chives, wild horseradish), Lebanese turnip pickles, and miso-fermented carrots! Come by to taste if you're curious...

posthumous pickle party

Fig. 1. Simcha, photographer unknown.

It won't make dill pickle season come any sooner, but please check out this film featuring the late Simcha and Fanny Leibovich and their famous sour dills.

Made in Montreal in 2006, it was released sometime ago but was news to me. It's dubbed in French, but don't let that stop you...

a wild embrace

Fig. 1. Left to right, wild experiments: dandelion bud capers with coltsfoot flowers, blushing ramp bulbs, and fiddleheads with ramp greens.

From faraway forests to nearby back alleyways, spring has sprung.

Thanks to Elisabeth for her gifts from the woods!

guru encounters in california

Fig. 1. San Francisco by sea.

I spent the second half of January in Northern California, one of my new favourite places in the world.

Berkeley, California is home to Cultured Pickle Shop, and I spent a week there scrubbing beets, mixing sauerkraut, filling jars, and grilling master-pickler Alex Hozven about her ascent to pickle stardom.

I also wandered around sunny San Francisco for a few days. Naturally, I made the pilgrimage to Tartine bakery, home of Chad Robertson, the author of my sourdough bread bible. I braved the line-up, feasted on my delicious purchases, and glimpsed the master (see here for glamour shots).

Figs. 2 & 3. It wasn't just about the food.

I ferment, you ferment, we ferment

Montrealers! I will be leading a Fermentation ABCs workshop at Dépanneur le Pick Up on Tuesday, March 27, 8pm. 


We'll talk about the craft and get our hands dirty. Plus, everyone will leave with two different vegetable mixtures to ferment at home, plus a yogurt sample to get you started with dairy fermentation!


To sign up, contact lepickupevents@gmail.com .

 


Come one, come all!

be mine.

"Torshi Left", or Lebanese pickled turnips, made a highly appropriate appearance on the eve of Valentine's day. This latest Culture Club offering is hot pink, crunchy and delicious. Made with love.

Extra! Extra!

At the beginning of January I sat down with writer Natasha Pickowicz to talk about lacto fermentation (and winter coping strategies!). Here's her article for the Montreal Gazette. That's not me in the photo, it's Leyla Majeri, home-fermenter extraordinaire.

choucroute garni

Fig. 1. After daylight fades, meat, potatoes and sauerkraut sustain on the longest nights of the year.

The eve of the shortest day of the year calls for slow-simmering pots. Butter. Onions and russet apples. Red cabbage sauerkraut, sour spiced beets, red wine, vegetable stock. Salt and pepper. In that order. Boiled special potatoes from Patrice at la société des plantes + more butter and dill. Spicy smoked sausage with mustard. You're ready for anything.

Holiday Puces Pop and a special announcement!

Elves have been working away in the 100%ferments kitchens... Come taste their new wintery creations! Sour spiced beets, zesty salt-cured lemons, winter kimchi, horseradish sauerkraut and all of the old standards are back for another round of Puces Pop!

And, an important announcement:

Introducing the "Culture Club" Pickle/Kraut Share!

Sign up to:

• Receive one jar (500mL) of lactofermented vegetables per month, from January to May – five different blends artisanally made from seasonal Québec vegetables, spices, and creativity. Pick-up in the Mile End, on the second Monday of the month. Starts January 9!
  
  
• Participate in a hands-on workshop where we will discuss different methods of vegetable fermentation while we make two different vegetable blends that you will take home with you. Date to be determined – in February or March.
  
  
• Support a young entrepreneur who looks forward to growing her business while working with local producers, seasonal produce, and traditional and multicultural methods.

This is a great deal for $45! There are only 40 spots, and it all starts January 9th!

To sign up, email haley[at]100ferments[dot]com

curtido 2

It's a bird! It's an egg! It's curtido!

Fig. 1. Curtido hangin' at its pal's. 

cold storage

Puces Pop is long gone, but fondly remembered. Bread-making has resumed full-force. Sour beets are on the horizon. Sauerkraut, mushroom and onion pierogis have been assembled. And since last posting, a second (huge!) batch of sour pickles matured and departed. Fall  Winter is in the air.

Documentation is forthcoming.*

*my camera has been gobbled up by Parc Jarry.

Pop Puces

With fall frostiness comes... Pop Montreal. If you're around next weekend, don't miss out - check out some shows, but also drop by Eglise St-Michel at 105 St-Viateur West for Puces Pop, the craft-sale extraordinaire. I'll be there hawking my goods, including sauerkraut, curtido, kimchi, and pickles, from 11am-6pm on Saturday and Sunday, September 24-25. Come to visit and try something tangy. I hear pickles-on-sticks are excellent sustenance for long, arduous musical journeys.

curtido

Your favourite Salvadorian condiment - spicy and zippy. For all your taco/latino breakfast/sandwich/anytime needs.

sour pickles 2

They're ready. Tangy and crunchy. Delicious. I'll be hawking their siblings at Puces Pop, September 24-25. Come on down to share in the fun.

Fig. 1. Sour pickles, moments before their inevitable disappearance. 

sour pickles

These cukes are comin' at you real, real soon. Scared?

Fig. 1. Dilly, garlicky sour pickles, day two. Grape leaves for extra crunchy cucumbers.

Two is better than one.

Two ferments anchor two towers. Too good on a Monday night.

Fig. 1. Sourdough brioche buns top and bottom. Garlic sauerkraut betwixt and between.