Last Sunday I attended the Oregon Fermentation Festival. It was held at Kruger’s Farm on Sauvie Island, just north of Portland. Approximately the size of Manhattan, it is one of the largest river islands in the U.S., with lots of open space, parks, farms, natural areas for migrating birds, sandy beaches for sun-worshipers and country roads perfect for bicycling.
My very favorite sample, besides the chocolate truffles, were carrots fermented with salt and a bit of fresh ginger!! This afternoon I made a batch, and once they are ready to eat, I will let you know how they turned out! I also plan on fermenting some other veggies for future Tasty Tuesday posts.
I bought mango-habañero, dark cherry and Thai-pepper-pear “drinking”vinegars to experiment with in the kitchen. They are unlike any vinegars I have ever tasted!
It is amazing how many of our foods are “cultured” and fermented. Chocolate, all kinds of krauts, beer, wine, coffee, some teas, cucumbers, cheese, some meats, yoghurt, tempeh, miso, kefir, Kombucha and sourdough! You get the picture!
The process of fermentation transforms and preserves foods, by growing good bacteria and discouraging the bad bacteria. This is believed to help aid digestion and give a boost to the immune system. Plus, it also tastes really good.
The Kimchi workshop was entertaining. Alex captured the attention of everyone in the audience with his charm and friendly informative instructions. Numerous spectators volunteered to chop and ready the ingredients for the final product.
Another display had beautiful herbs and garden plants. I noticed several small olive trees with fruit on them, and also some citrus trees with buddha’s hand citron growing.
Before heading home, I filled my canning jar at the DIY pickle station. I added some fresh garlic and dill, half a grape leaf, and then as many pickling cucumbers as I could fit. This got topped off with brine, and after putting on a lid, I was on my way.
Throughout the day I felt like I had stepped straight into an episode of Portlandia! Watch an episode if you haven’t yet!
I came home with lots of ideas, some really good chocolate to nibble on, and airlock lids to use with canning jars during the fermentation process.
It was a fabulous foray into all things fermentation! Watch for recipes in upcoming posts!
in cahoots with muddy boots 
The drinking vinegars sound like a business that was just on Shark Tank on Friday. I wonder if it was the same one, Ashton Kutcher wrote them a check! I need to add more fermented foods to my diet.
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I will have to check that out! They are amazing, in my opinion. I have to admit, that I was completely oblivious to them!!
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You never cease to amaze me. Oh, the places you go! 🙂 I hope there were more in attendance than what it looked like in your photos. The vendors seemed to be top notch.
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It was, what I would consider fairly well attended. Never crowded, but a steady stream of visitors throughout the day. Maybe the steep ticket price (30.00 per person, more if you wanted to sample alcoholic beverages) had something to do with it. For most of us, that’s a lot of money.
The vendors were very great. I chatted with just about all of them and got great tips on fermenting my own foods, and also about what felt to me almost like a subculture. These people absolutely love what they do. They all looked super healthy and and had great vibes. I am convinced those things are related. Making some kraut today!
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What a great idea for a fesitval. All the tastey nutritious food, interesting vendors and workshops. My sourdough is fermenting on the counter as I read this and I forget that it’s really about the fermentation that makes this bread keep living. What a hip topic you’ve shown here.
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Thank you! I haven’t made sourdough in ages. I should start up again. It was really amazing to learn about all of this in person. You can read all you want about some things, but seeing it done, tasting it and talking to experts made me really want to do some fermenting myself in my little corner of Portlandia!
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Beautiful photos and informative narrative. Not to mention, yummmmm !
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😊
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Love the pictures!
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Thanks Misty! I had a great time there and really liked seeing you guys there!
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That is a steep price for admission. No wonder I didn’t go or was it I didn’t know anything about it? Maybe next year. It sounds very interesting and very good for you. I have so much to learn and so little time.;) Great photos.
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I’ll let you know next time it happens! In the meantime, maybe we can do some fermenting at my house. I promise I won’t charge an admission fee!! 😀
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Ha Ha! That fee was quite steep. I’m curious but need to ask lots of questions first. 😉
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I might just have the answers, Marlene!
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Now I’m all inspired to ferment something. I’ve tried my hand at kraut, have made pickles, but I’m totally intrigued by the carrots with ginger. Let us know how they turn out. At one of our farmer’s markets we recently sampled fermented tea from Townsend Tea Company…quite delicious!
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The carrots are just about ready. Moved them to the fridge yesterday. I will post about them in the coming days. Thanks for always reading and commenting!
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