Left to right: Rhonda Hughes, Teruo Kurosaki, Liz Crain. Right before the party started. Kanpai!

True Portland 2017 Book Launch Party

June 27, 2017 in Media Surf, Reverend Nat's Hard Cider, True Portland

Wow. What a party. Thank you so much to everyone who came out for our Hawthorne Books + Media Surf/Bridge Lab + Reverent Nat's Hard CiderTrue Portland: The Unofficial Guide for Creative People book launch party last Thursday night. 500+ people came out and raised their glasses (filled with Nat's delicious Magnificent 7 made with seven Japanese apple varieties from Kiyokawa Family Orchards, Culmination Brewing's dry-hopped yuzu sour +++) with us including Teruo Kurosaki and his Japan posse, all of whom crossed the great Pacific from Tokyo to Portland for the party.

Sure, we got some great coverage for the party including this and this but mostly I think we can attribute the awesome attendance to the combined sparkling, lovely, wild and creative greatness of everyone who participated including our super talented food/drink/wares vendors (all in the photos and linked up below), Reverend Nat's Hard Cider's Mr. Nat West and event coordinator Carolyn Winkler +++, the 400+ wise ones and businesses featured in the book and, of course, Hawthorne Books' Rhonda Hughes and moi. I have been lucky to be an editor and publicity director at Hawthorne Books since 2009.

My boyfriend DJ Jimbo played so many sweet summery tunes for us including one of my favorites (and Lola's of Umi Organic) Strawberry Letter 23 written by Shuggie Otis and largely popularized by this The Brothers Johnson rendition of it. Hawthorne Books interns Stephen Hyde and Melina Hughes were hosts with the most at the Hawthorne Books table. (I stacked the books like a mountain pre-party and by the end the mountain was just about gone!) And the Travel Portland folks (hugely supportive of all editions of True Portland) came out and brought a lot of fun including their sasquatch-like Dude-head Japan mascot. You'll see.

I managed to snap a bunch of photos throughout the night and many of them are below. You can also check the hashtag #trueportland on social media to see more. Oh, and, if you want to get a copy of the book head to your favorite independent bookseller and purchase it. Some businesses that we love who are carrying it include Powell's Books, Broadway Books, Monograph Bookwerks and Tender Loving Empire. It's easy to find now that it has launched. Thank you again to all of you and to Portland for celebrating True Portland with us. One of my favorite parties yet in all of my 40 years. So fun.

Mount Fuji-sized stack of True Portland!

Katsu Tanaka and Oleya of Kiriko Made. Their fabrics are incredibly beautiful. Can’t wait to get some.

Here are links to all of the lovely vendors who took place in our party's Japan marketplace: Biwa/Noraneko/Parasol, Marukin Ramen, Yume Confections, Jorinji Miso, Kiriko Made, Wanpaku Natto, Seisuke Knife, Obon PDX and Umi Organic.

Partyyyyyy! Really fun to have it in the heart of the cidery amongst all of the fermentation tanks.

Seisuke Knife. Check out their shop. So many beautifully crafted Japanese knives. They regularly host Japanese bladesmith’s at their Northeast Portland shop.

Chef Mayumi Hijikata of Marukin Ramen serving up their DELICIOUS cold ramen. So lovely on such a hot summer day/night.

Rev. Nat’s event coordinator superstar Carolyn Winkler with Randy Kiyokawa of Kiyokawa Family Orchards in Parkdale. Seven Japanese varieties of his apples comprise Nat’s super tasty Magnificent 7 hard cider along with sake yeast that was poured at t… — Rev. Nat’s event coordinator superstar Carolyn Winkler with Randy Kiyokawa of Kiyokawa Family Orchards in Parkdale. Seven Japanese varieties of his apples comprise Nat’s super tasty Magnificent 7 hard cider along with sake yeast that was poured at the event and is available in Japan.

The lovely Gena Renaud of Yume Confections. Her wagashi are so beautiful you almost don’t want to eat them. You can get them at the Portland Japanese Garden’s Umami Cafe and watch her make them on the Portland Bizarre Foods episode +++

Not a great photo of Gena’s gorgeous entirely edible “koi aquariums” http://www.yumeconfections.com/

Party lovelies! Left to right: Sarah Hart, Dory Athey, Rhonda Hughes, Alisha Gorder.

We were all so lucky to get to sip on the rare (most of it has shipped to Japan) Rev. Nat Magnificent 7 cider. Link to it is above. Sooooo yummy and special.

The hugely talented and dedicated folks at Stumptown Printers (featured in the book) made us these (out of the goodness of their hearts) beautiful commemorative cards for the event. Everyone who bought a book got one of these — three color, entirely… — The hugely talented and dedicated folks at Stumptown Printers (featured in the book) made us these (out of the goodness of their hearts) beautiful commemorative cards for the event. Everyone who bought a book got one of these — three color, entirely analog, 100% recycled paper board, 2-color offset litho using hand-cut rubylith and 1-color letterpress linotype.

My fine fellow DJ Jimbo made the night so fun with all of his great vinyl. He mixed in several rad Japanese songs that our friend Takeshi gave him just for the party.

Yuri Migaki (left) and Lola Milholland of Jorinji Miso and Umi Organic. They partnered up (no photos of Earnest sadly!) and served up really tasty noodle + miso dishes.

Jorinji’s classic and delicious hiyashi chuka made with their miso, Lola’s Umi Organic ramen noodles and summer veggies.

And Lola’s super tasty Umi Organic ramen noodles with Jorinji’s Goma Miso Sauce and crisp fresh veg. So good.

Jeff Hammerly of Travel Portland putting on their Japan mascot dudehead. I love Travel Portland.

My friend Heidi Nestler of Wanpaku Natto and…

Heidi’s super yummy natto. I don’t love natto but I do love hers. It’s much milder and more balanced in flavor than most. I went back for seconds.

Hawthorne Books interns Stephen Hyde and Melina Hughes slinging books. Cheers to these two and True Portland!

Gabe Rosen and Ian of Biwa/Noraneko/Parasol. Their onigiri was awesome!

Me and Etsuyo Okajima — my Tokyo friend and one of the editors of the Japanese editions of True Portland. Happy.

Etsuyo and Joy Church — executive director of The Portland Kitchen. If you don’t know of the great work that TPK does with underserved youth and the culinary arts check them out.

The Rev. Nat Beers Made By Walking CIDER that launched that night. Wood shavings in the tea bag for flavor.

My dear friends George Winborn of Metro and Michelle Gilmore of SMART.

Fumiko Hozumi and Jason Duffany of Obon PDX. I had never had their food before and it was so yummy! Will definitely be checking them out and you should too — obonpdx.com.

The cidery’s awesome taplist for the party. My favorite cidery on the planet.

Sarah Hart, Rhonda Hughes, me and Dory Athey. Good times were had.

I got my chance with the Travel Portland Japan mascot Dudehead.

And the closing shot goes to the True Portland super talented book designer Shinpei Onishi. Traveling all the way from Tokyo to Portland will do this to you ;).

Thank you again to everyone who came out and celebrated the first English edition of True Portland with us. So fun. XOXOXOXOXO

The only problem with this photo is that Sarah Taft who took it isn’t in it and neither is Sarah Ryan-Knox because she left before we took it. Well, a lot of folks aren’t in the photo who’ve participated in our cook the Toro Bravo book dinner partie… — The only problem with this photo is that Sarah Taft who took it isn’t in it and neither is Sarah Ryan-Knox because she left before we took it. Well, a lot of folks aren’t in the photo who’ve participated in our cook the Toro Bravo book dinner parties throughout the years but it’s hard to get everyone together. So fun.

Cooking the Toro Bravo Book Party Pt. 6

March 31, 2017 in Cookbooks, Homemade Food, Toro Bravo, Toro Bravo Cookbook, Toro Bravo: Stories- R...

The time has come for us to literally and figuratively close the book on our cooking the Toro Bravo cookbook parties. Over the years, since the book came out from McSweeney's in the fall of 2013, we've had six big and raucous dinner parties at the homes of a very special group of hungry, good cook friends where we all cooked different dishes from the book. You can check them out here, here, here, and here. I didn't post the fifth dinner from fall 2015 and I'll do that soon too.

We looked through the Toro book's table of contents at the end of our grand finale Toro book dinner party last weekend, and it turns out that we cooked about 85% of the book. None of us are completists in life, so we feel pretty dang good about cooking all of those awesome recipes and not cooking every single recipe.

The biggest holes were in the Charcuterie and Cocktails chapters and meat dishes throughout the book. The first because those recipes take a good amount of time and special equipment (although our group tackled the Coppa Steak twice, the Pork Rillettes, and the Sherry Chicken Liver Mousse), the second because that's a lot of cocktails for six dinner parties (we made the Toro Martini, Venus 75, Jerez Negroni, Casa Rita and White Sangria), and the meat dishes because we have a few vegetarians and pescatarians amongst us (we made the Harira Lamb and Lentil Stew, Coppa Steak, Drunken Pork, Moorish Meatballs and Chicken and Clams Cataplana). I might have left a few out of those lists but that's most of them.

So, we ate, drank and were quite merry, as always, and I'm posting a bunch of the photos here for you. We'll probably do one more Toro party, that's not strictly recipes but that includes the Paella and Rabbit Fideos, this summer because that sounds like a lot of fun. After that, we're going to do a one night only James Beard cook from the book night -- everyone will choose a dish from whatever cookbook of his they'd like.

After that I'm really hoping that the group chooses Hello! My Name is Tasty: Global Diner Favorites from Portland's Tasty Restaurants, which comes out August 15th, as its next cook from the book cookbook. More than a little biased. I love that we can have brunch and dinner parties with that one.

If you want to watch a fun video that Rebecca and Fred Gerendasy of Cooking up a Story did of our dinner party series you can check it out here. Love that they captured it.

Alright, without further ado, photos from the night.

Toro Bravo: Stories. Recipes. No Bull. dinner party menu

Toro's White Sangria made with my Concord grape wine Boquerones with Toasted Bread and Piperade Bacon-Wrapped Dates Tapenade Octopus a la Plancha Sauteed Spinach with Pine Nuts and Golden Raisins Butter Lettuce Salad Harissa-Stewed Butternut Squash Coppa Steak with Salbitxada Panna Cotta two ways Limoncello *We also had really yummy Olympia Provisions ham, pork rillettes, chorizo and sopressata that Josh and Sarah brought. Josh is Olympia Provisions' plant manager.

e started off the night with Toro’s White Sangria that I made with my homemade Concord grape wine. It was really citrusy and yummy with sliced oranges and kiwi. Tastes like summer.

Next up we had my Boquerones with Toasted Bread and Piperade. I made these for our first Toro cookbook dinner at Loly and Faulkner’s so it was fun to make them again at their place for the final one. This is one of my favorite recipes from the book.… — Next up we had my Boquerones with Toasted Bread and Piperade. I made these for our first Toro cookbook dinner at Loly and Faulkner’s so it was fun to make them again at their place for the final one. This is one of my favorite recipes from the book. So simple and delicious.

Josh’s Olympia Provisions spread. It wasn’t from the Toro book obviously but it was a super tasty addition. Pork rillettes, manchego, soppressata, ham, chorizo +++.

Tom working hard on his Bacon-Wrapped Dates ;). And I love that I captured Alec in the mirror.

Most of Alec’s Toro Tapenade on charred bread got snapped up before I got a photo. Love the Toro Tapenade!!

Loly with one of Tom’s yummmmmy Bacon-Wrapped Dates.

Faulkner and Loly cooking up there Octopus a la Plancha. We are the luckiest. I ate two of these and had a hard time stopping myself from eating more. There was so much more food to come.

Dana cooking up another one of my favorites — Toro’s Sauteed Spinach with Pine Nuts and Golden Raisins. If you love spinach I HIGHLY recommend making this dish at home.

My niece’s first grade class is doing the Flat Stanley project right now so she sent me her Stanley from Cincinnati and I brought him with. He had a few too many of the Toro sangrias and not enough food to start so we let him doze on the Toro book f… — My niece’s first grade class is doing the Flat Stanley project right now so she sent me her Stanley from Cincinnati and I brought him with. He had a few too many of the Toro sangrias and not enough food to start so we let him doze on the Toro book for a bit.

Chris who was the ringleader for most of these dinners made the Coppa Steak again. It was awesome! Perfectly smoked, tender and juicy. Alec made the Salbitxada to top it with.

Dana and Oliver made the Harissa-Stewed Butternut Squash. Mmmmm.

Loly and Faulkner’s tasty Butter Lettuce Salad. Nice to have some fresh crisp greens in the middle of the feast.

Mid-way through the night we took a walk around Columbia Park to get some fresh air and walk off a little of the food. Beautiful spring night.

Once the Coppa had rested Chris carved it up. Perfectly pink and delicious.

Eating, drinking, and more eating, drinking. Good times.

With dessert we did a Toro Limoncello taste-off from a couple batches — mine and Loly and Faulkner’s. Both were awesome.

Some of Faulkner and other’s instant photos from the dinner.

Chris’s Toro Panna Cotta. Really good as always. The one in the pie dish is topped with red wine braised pears and apples with cinnamon, cloves and star anise. The individual ones are with his blood orange Campari topping. YUM! Great way to finish t… — Chris’s Toro Panna Cotta. Really good as always. The one in the pie dish is topped with red wine braised pears and apples with cinnamon, cloves and star anise. The individual ones are with his blood orange Campari topping. YUM! Great way to finish the meal.

Cheers to you for reading this! Maybe you'll put together one of these for a cookbook too? I highly recommend it. So fun. Happy Friday!

I’m so lucky!! Me and Sandor signing books after his full house book event at Powell’s for the 2nd edition of Wild Fermentation. Wild Fermentation is the book that’s had the biggest and most positive impact on my life. Photo by Dane Fredericks of Po… — I’m so lucky!! Me and Sandor signing books after his full house book event at Powell’s for the 2nd edition of Wild Fermentation. Wild Fermentation is the book that’s had the biggest and most positive impact on my life. Photo by Dane Fredericks of Powell’s Books.

Sandor Ellix Katz Powell’s Books Event for Wild Fermentation 2nd Edition

March 20, 2017 in Book Event, Food Fermentation, Food Lover's Guide to ..., Hawthorne Books, Portland Fermentation, Portland food, Powell's, Powell's Books, Sandor Ellix Katz, Wild Fermentation

I’ve been very lucky over the years to get to be “in conversation” with all sorts of incredible food and drink people such as Mark Bittman, Dana Cowin and now Sandor Ellix Katz at my favorite bookstore on the planet — Powell’s Books. Sandor was in town mid-February for various events on his book tour for the second edition of Wild Fermentation and I was the lucky one who got to spend the night asking him questions in front of a full house in the Powell’s Books Pearl Room. Thank you life.

For those of you who couldn’t make the event I uploaded the audio of it here:

Also, Sandor did some radio and TV segments while in town and you can check out his KATU News AM Northwest spot here and his KBOO Healthwatch show feature here.

Below are bunch of photos from the standing room-only excellent Powell’s event. Thank you Powell’s Books, Sandor and everyone who came out and made the night special.

Full house of Sandor fans and fermentation enthusiasts!

Before the event Sandor served up some of his delicious fermented daikon that he makes every year from a Tennessee neighbor’s cover crop. So generous, so yummy!

Sandor talking about everything from his 55-gallon bourbon barrels that he’s used in the past to ferment vegetables to his recent travels in Asia and all of the ferments that he tried and learned about while there. Photo by Loly LeBlanc.

So cute! And look at all of those beautiful life-changing books. So colorful and inspiring inside and out. Photo by David Barber.

We got through my questions and then opened it up to the audience. When an audience member asked Sandor about the potential spirituality of fermentation he summed it up after thinking about it for a moment as — “unseen forces can be very powerful.” … — We got through my questions and then opened it up to the audience. When an audience member asked Sandor about the potential spirituality of fermentation he summed it up after thinking about it for a moment as — “unseen forces can be very powerful.” So beautiful and true. Photo by Denise Pasquinelli.

Long line of folks after waited to talk to Sandor and get their 2nd edition of Wild Fermentation signed.

At the very end Dane Fredericks of Powell’s had Sandor and I sign a bunch of books. Such a treat. Such an honor. I am officially the luckiest.

Thank you so very much Sandor & Powell’s! And thanks to everyone who came out for the event.

Purchase the 2nd edition of Wild Fermentation.

On day two of F3 I got to speak with Yusuke Sezaki, 4th generation owner of Kaneshichi katsuobushi, for awhile (thanks to Etsuyo who translated). I ended up leaving with his handmade kezuriki (katsuobushi grater box) and two of his perfectly paired … — On day two of F3 I got to speak with Yusuke Sezaki, 4th generation owner of Kaneshichi katsuobushi, for awhile (thanks to Etsuyo who translated). I ended up leaving with his handmade kezuriki (katsuobushi grater box) and two of his perfectly paired katsuobushi that are smoked, sun dried and fermented for months. I gave him a copy of my book, some Bee Local honey and I invited him to the Portland Fermentation Festival. I hope that he comes! So lucky that I got to meet Yusuke.

Fermentation Future Forum 2017

March 20, 2017 in F3, Fermentation Future Forum, Food Fermentation, Food Preservation, Hawthorne Books, Japanese Fermentation, Kaneshichi Katsuobushi, Shinobu Namae, Teruo Kurosaki, Yoshida Brewery, Yusuke Sezaki

I had the extremely good fortune to be invited to speak at Tokyo’s first annual Fermentation Future Forum (F3) in January. The forum was organized by cultural luminary Teruo Kurosaki and his bright and creative staff. Kurosaki-san is a world renowned designer, former owner of Idee, founder of the Tokyo United Nations University Farmers Market, publisher-owner of Media Surf, owner-founder of Midori co-working spaces, Freedom University and much, much more. I have had the pleasure of getting to know him the past several months through a project that I am editing for Hawthorne Books — the English edition of True Portland — which comes out this summer.

Pretty soon after Kurosaki-san and I met he was interested in the annual Portland Fermentation Festival which I co-founded with my dear friends George Winborn and David Barber in 2009. Some folks close to him attended this year’s late October festival and the next thing you know I had an invite to come speak at his first annual Fermentation Future Forum. Kurosaki-san works fast!

There is much to share about F3, which was held at the United Nations University and Kurosaki’s UNU Farmers Market there — and I think that photos do the best job. They give you an eye into just how special and inspiring the weekend was. The audio of my talk is embedded below you want to have a listen. The translated talk (translated by Mai Oyama and moderated by my friend Etsuyo Okajima of Freedom University) took place in the main hall at the United Nations University where the forum took place.

The talk right before mine featured super rad hip hop DJ Misoshiru (making fermented food and other Japanese traditional foods and cooking hip in Japan through her music) along with Seiichiro Tsuji, a specialist of Japanese fermented foods from 6,000 years ago during Japan’s Jomon period. This sort of program coupling gives you just a bit of an idea of what a diverse feed the mind and feed the belly festival F3 was. Thousands attended and it was a huge success. There was also the outdoor part of the fermented food festival that took place during the indoor talks (also free and open to the public) where fest attendees sampled all sorts of sakes, misos, cured meats and more from the makers themselves. Chef Shinobu Namae of two-star Michelin restaurant L’Effervescence was there serving up one of the best ramens I’ve ever tasted, Yoshida Brewery (of the film Birth of Sake) was there sampling sakes and many, many others were there from throughout Japan serving up delicious and creative ferments.

Again, I am so honored that I got to be a part of Tokyo’s first annual fermentation festival and I hope that we have many years of colorful, creative and inspiring collaboration ahead between the Fermentation Future Forum and the Portland Fermentation Festival.

Fermentation Future Forum — F3 fermentationfutureforum.org

Listen to my talk at F3:

Chef Shinobu Namae of 2 Michelin star restaurant L’Effervescence with his enormous crazy tasty pot of ramen at the outdoor sampling area of F3. The talks and workshops were all inside. Shinobu used Yusuke’s Kaneshichi katsuobushi for it. I will drea… — Chef Shinobu Namae of 2 Michelin star restaurant L’Effervescence with his enormous crazy tasty pot of ramen at the outdoor sampling area of F3. The talks and workshops were all inside. Shinobu used Yusuke’s Kaneshichi katsuobushi for it. I will dream of this ramen. Incredible.

Soooo cold! Luckily there were a lot of crazy tasty sakes on hand to warm us up.

It was really crazy having just watched the excellent documentary Birth of Sake which features this fellow — Yachan aka Yasuyuki (Yas) Yoshida — sixth generation at Yoshida Brewery and the next in line to take over the brewery. Yas is in the yellow … — It was really crazy having just watched the excellent documentary Birth of Sake which features this fellow — Yachan aka Yasuyuki (Yas) Yoshida — sixth generation at Yoshida Brewery and the next in line to take over the brewery. Yas is in the yellow jacket and to see him and Yoshida at F3 was wild and…

I got to try Yoshida’s newest winter sake. It tasted like lychee and grapefruit and snow all at once. I’ll never forget it and I really hope to have it again soon.

F3 was part indoors — talks and workshops — and this outdoor area and the adjoining corridor, that’s not in view, was where all of the fermentation sampling took place. Beyond that and out front was the weekend United Nations University Farmers Mark… — F3 was part indoors — talks and workshops — and this outdoor area and the adjoining corridor, that’s not in view, was where all of the fermentation sampling took place. Beyond that and out front was the weekend United Nations University Farmers Market which gets 15-20k visitors a day.

These folks put together enormous pot after boiling pot of imoni with lots of miso, taro, burdock and wild mushrooms. Both days of F3 were extremely windy and cold so this was a very popular soup. They would hit the soup lid as they propped it up re… — These folks put together enormous pot after boiling pot of imoni with lots of miso, taro, burdock and wild mushrooms. Both days of F3 were extremely windy and cold so this was a very popular soup. They would hit the soup lid as they propped it up really hard with the ladle, treating it like a giant gong, every time that the soup was ready.

I certainly wasn’t the only one who enjoyed it.

This warm amazake (low or no alcohol fermented rice drink) was such a treat too. No sugar or sweetener added but so naturally sweet. Another unforgettable taste from F3.

I really love that F3 was free to attend (the talks and the food sampling were free and open to the public and you bought stickers for food/drink samples) and that they had these two types of reusable sake cups that you could purchase for sampling. … — I really love that F3 was free to attend (the talks and the food sampling were free and open to the public and you bought stickers for food/drink samples) and that they had these two types of reusable sake cups that you could purchase for sampling. Brilliant.

This was the only cured meat at F3 and it was yummy.

Did you know that Japan has a Miss Sake? They do! This is her — Mai Morita. She travels the world as an ambassador of Japanese sake. Love it. A lot of the organizers and VIP participants wore these white F3 lab suits. So stylish and fun.

Bird’s eye view of the main outdoor corridor of F3.

The Saturday F3 workshop that Luuvu Hoang, Etsuyo Okajima and I did at nearby Midori. Luu did a demo. on fermented Vietnamese food, I spoke about Portland and the Portland Fermentation Festival and we all hung out together for three hours learning t… — The Saturday F3 workshop that Luuvu Hoang, Etsuyo Okajima and I did at nearby Midori. Luu did a demo. on fermented Vietnamese food, I spoke about Portland and the Portland Fermentation Festival and we all hung out together for three hours learning things and eating yummy things. It was awesome.

Afterward Luuvu and I walked over to the F3 food/drink area and got Shinobu’s awesome ramen made with Yusuke’s katsuobushi. The stuff of dreams.

Yusuke Sezaki (one of my favorite people that I met in Tokyo) of the legendary Kaneshichi — maker of katsuobushi. Yusuke is who Rene Redzepi travels to in order to learn about katsuobushi. Redzepi is currently experimenting with making bear and veni… — Yusuke Sezaki (one of my favorite people that I met in Tokyo) of the legendary Kaneshichi — maker of katsuobushi. Yusuke is who Rene Redzepi travels to in order to learn about katsuobushi. Redzepi is currently experimenting with making bear and venison katsuobushi. Yusuke is helping him.

The perfectly coupled katsuobushi that Yusuke gave me. (He also hid a third in the bag.) In Japan when couples marry a traditional parting gift for good fortune is this — a “male” and “female” katsuobushi — pieces that fit perfectly together. It’s r… — The perfectly coupled katsuobushi that Yusuke gave me. (He also hid a third in the bag.) In Japan when couples marry a traditional parting gift for good fortune is this — a “male” and “female” katsuobushi — pieces that fit perfectly together. It’s rare and brings good luck.

I really wanted to do this 50-minute sake tasting but we were too social to make it happen. We wanted to walk around and talk to everyone. Next time

They had an F3 DJ!! He played Roy Ayers’ Everybody Loves the Sunshine and during it the sun came out. It had been cloudy for a bit. So cool.

All of the signage and graphics for the festival were striking.

A box of F3 images. It’s astounding how well designed every little detail was at the forum.

Etusyo Okajima (moderator), Mai Oyama (translator) and me before my F3 talk.

Right before my talk was one with super hip DJ Misoshiru and Seiichiro Tsuji, a specialist of Japanese fermented foods from 6,000 years ago during Japan’s Jomon period. This sort of program coupling gives you just a bit of an idea of what a diverse … — Right before my talk was one with super hip DJ Misoshiru and Seiichiro Tsuji, a specialist of Japanese fermented foods from 6,000 years ago during Japan’s Jomon period. This sort of program coupling gives you just a bit of an idea of what a diverse feed the mind and feed the belly festival F3 was.

Sandor’s book on display on the table outside of the main hall!!

I got to meet Kantaro Oizumi and sample his kombucha which was inspired by trips to Portland after our Portland Fermentation Festival! Kentaro will be launching his Japanese kombucha later this month at Kombuchakon in Long Beach, CA. It’s really, re… — I got to meet Kantaro Oizumi and sample his kombucha which was inspired by trips to Portland after our Portland Fermentation Festival! Kentaro will be launching his Japanese kombucha later this month at Kombuchakon in Long Beach, CA. It’s really, really good stuff.

Kurosaki-san, Etsuyo, Mai and I trying Kantaro’s kombucha before my talk.

I had such a great time talking about the Portland Fermentation Festival and Portland food/drink at F3. We all sat on bean bags in the middle of the room and while Mai translated someone was also typing up what I said in characters that were project… — I had such a great time talking about the Portland Fermentation Festival and Portland food/drink at F3. We all sat on bean bags in the middle of the room and while Mai translated someone was also typing up what I said in characters that were projected on large screens. So well organized for year one. Really fun talk. There’s a link above in the main body of the post if you want to listen to it on Soundcloud.

Left to right: Mai’s mom (I forget her name!), Mai, Etsuyo and me after the talk. All bundled up and ready to hit the fest food/drink area again.

First stop, hot sake! Just what the Dr. ordered.

The long line to get into F3 never let up on either day. So cool.

I got to meet my Portland friends’ — Earnest and Yuri Migaki, makers of Jorinji Miso — friend! Kousaku Hotta of Salmon & Trout with his super mackerel sandwich.

I didn’t get to try these but they looked awesome.

This realllllly young sake (day two of fermentation) was so good. It reminded Etsuyo of the strawberry in mochi (ichigo daifuku) that she had at our kaiseki dinner at Higashiya Ginza the night before

More really yummy sake — this time from Heiw Shuzou where one of Etsuyo’s friends brews. So cold outside!!!

Sake lees aka kasu from one of the sake brewery’s. It’s used to make amazake and sometimes miso. It’s also traditionally used as face paint. I didn’t try any and I wish I’d gotten a bag to bring home.

Aaaaand that’s a wrap. Thank you F3 and Kurosaki-san and everyone who helped put F3 together and attended. What a dream.

I was lucky enough to get to spend a lot of time during my visit to Tokyo with this the man — the man who made it all happen. He got me to Tokyo and took care of everything. F3 founder and one of my heroes — Teruo Kurosaki. I can’t thank him enough.… — I was lucky enough to get to spend a lot of time during my visit to Tokyo with this the man — the man who made it all happen. He got me to Tokyo and took care of everything. F3 founder and one of my heroes — Teruo Kurosaki. I can’t thank him enough. Long live Kurosaki-san and long live F3!

Thank you for reading this. Now go figure out how you can visit Tokyo soon!!

Perennial festival favorite — Choi’s Kimchi. Co-owner Matt Choi on the right and family and business friend Moah Son on the left. Matt’s mom Chong — co-owner of Choi’s Kimchi stopped by for a minute but she’d been up the night before until 4am makin… — Perennial festival favorite — Choi’s Kimchi. Co-owner Matt Choi on the right and family and business friend Moah Son on the left. Matt’s mom Chong — co-owner of Choi’s Kimchi stopped by for a minute but she’d been up the night before until 4am making kimchi so she was a littttttle tired and headed home. Matt was on last year’s and this year’s Panel of Fermentation Experts.

Portland Fermentation Festival 2016 Redux

March 20, 2017 in Food Fermentation, Food Preservation, Homemade Food, Portland DIY, Portland Fermentation ..., Portland food, Portland Food/Drink Event, Portland Pickles

Well, we did it again — another wild, stinky and super fun Portland Fermentation Festival at Ecotrust! This year’s Seventh Annual fest was chock-full of tasty funky fermented foods, smarty-pants exhibitors and attendees, an excellent Panel of Fermentation Experts, all sorts of fun DIY demo’s, rooftop good vibes thanks to DJ Jimbo (check out his festival playlists here and here) and Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider and much much more. Thank you all for coming out for it and joining the stink!

We put the Portland Fermentation Festival together every year with a shoestring budget + heaps of volunteered hours (thank you sooooo much to all of our kick-ass volunteers!) and as always we’re so grateful that Ecotrust puts up with us year after year. Thank you again Ecotrust! We love you.

We had some great coverage this year including this segment on KGW News with Cassidy Quinn. We’ve posted most of the other coverage on social media. If you’d like to keep up with local fermenty goings-on please check out Facebook and Twitter pages.

Below are a whole bunch of photos from this year’s Stinkfest! If you have some great ones too please post them to the Facebook page or Twitter them with the hashtag #pdxfermentfest.

Thank you, thank you, thank you and see you all again next year we hope! Stay stinky! Oh, and please let me know if I attributed anything incorrectly. Thanks!

Pre-fest KGW News coverage thanks to Cassidy Quinn. She, Nat and Claudia tried Nat’s chicha on camera AND Nat chewed and spit up some of the corn mash that this traditional Peruvian corn drink is made of. You read that correctly — they essentially d… — Pre-fest KGW News coverage thanks to Cassidy Quinn. She, Nat and Claudia tried Nat’s chicha on camera AND Nat chewed and spit up some of the corn mash that this traditional Peruvian corn drink is made of. You read that correctly — they essentially drank Nat’s spit! (I did too and it was actually pretty good — light, sweet and slightly roasty smoky) Nat always brings something wildly experimental to the fest every year and we love him so much for it.

We kicked off this year’s fest with a super inspiring and informative Panel of Fermentation Experts with left to right: Tara Whitsitt (Fermentation on Wheels), David Barber (Picklopolis), Matt Choi (Choi’s Kimchi), Nat West (Reverend Nat’s Hard Cide… — We kicked off this year’s fest with a super inspiring and informative Panel of Fermentation Experts with left to right: Tara Whitsitt (Fermentation on Wheels), David Barber (Picklopolis), Matt Choi (Choi’s Kimchi), Nat West (Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider) and Claudia Lucero (Urban Cheesecraft).

A little bit closer. Such a great panel! We ended it on each of their best pieces of advice for the beginning fermenter. The general gist: just do it. You don’t need fancy equipment or lots of know-how, this is a born of mistakes primitive way of pr… — A little bit closer. Such a great panel! We ended it on each of their best pieces of advice for the beginning fermenter. The general gist: just do it. You don’t need fancy equipment or lots of know-how, this is a born of mistakes primitive way of preserving food. Tap into that and have fun. Kick your intimidation to the curb.

Once the panel concluded the doors opened for the first of the night’s two tastings and madness ensued. A fun, yummy, wild ferments madness.

Portland Fermentation Festival co-organizers left to right: David Barber, me, George Winborn. We love you!

Nat West serving up his Peruvian chewed/spit fermented corn drink. Nat always makes really unusual experimental ferments just for the fest. Last year he sampled his Mongolian milk wine and the year before that he brought his fermented LEG OF LAMB ci… — Nat West serving up his Peruvian chewed/spit fermented corn drink. Nat always makes really unusual experimental ferments just for the fest. Last year he sampled his Mongolian milk wine and the year before that he brought his fermented LEG OF LAMB cider! Wacky and awesome.

Connie and Brian Shaw of Hood River’s Oregon Brineworks always bring the most delicious spread of their ferments. This year was no different. You can find their ferments all over Portland (at New Seasons, Green Zebra, Peoples Food Coop ++) — they’re… — Connie and Brian Shaw of Hood River’s Oregon Brineworks always bring the most delicious spread of their ferments. This year was no different. You can find their ferments all over Portland (at New Seasons, Green Zebra, Peoples Food Coop ++) — they’re soooo yummy!

Owner Sash Sunday of Olympia’s OlyKraut serving up all different kraut samples (also available in Portland markets) AND pouring shots of spicy spectacular pickle brine. YUM!! Next level ingredient for rad Bloody Marys.

George Tsesoukas of Soma Kombucha (based in St. Johns) pouring up tart and tasty kombucha samples. So many different tasty flavors.

Out on the mezzanine we had three demo’s throughout the night. Austin Durant of the Fermenters Club (he came up all the way from San Diego!) did this fun and inspiring DIY kimchi and gochujang making demo.

Right across the mezzanine at the same time Claudia Lucero led a fermented nut cheese demo. I definitely am going to try my hand at these now. So yummy, tart, smooth and creamy. She’s currently working on a book all about dairy-free cheeses! Her exc… — Right across the mezzanine at the same time Claudia Lucero led a fermented nut cheese demo. I definitely am going to try my hand at these now. So yummy, tart, smooth and creamy. She’s currently working on a book all about dairy-free cheeses! Her excellent One-Hour Cheese cookbook came out in 2014.

Festival veteran Heidi Nestler, owner of Pickled Things, sampled her sticky tasty natto at this year’s fest and…

Heidi also led a demo on pickled Japanese vegetables — — nukazuke, misozuke and kojizuke. I really wish I could have gone to that one.

While Heidi did her demo festival volunteer superstar Marty handed out natto samples at her table. Jimbo got to try natto for the first time! He loved it.

I’m bummed I didn’t get any photos of the lovely ticketing ladies in the atrium this year but I did get this one with three of them. Left to right: Michelle, Stacy and Loly. All dear friends.

Lion Heart Kombucha! I asked one little boy at the fest this year what his favorite festival sample was and he said, “ALL the kombucha!” Love it.

Tim Root’s incredible festival poster this year! We’re so lucky that he continues to do our poster year after year. So creeeeeepy awesome.

Colin Franger of Blue Bus Cultured Foods in Bingen, Washington. Colin has been coming to the fest for years sampling his yummy ferments and you can find a lot of them in Portland at New Seasons, Whole Foods, various co-ops and other markets. That’s … — Colin Franger of Blue Bus Cultured Foods in Bingen, Washington. Colin has been coming to the fest for years sampling his yummy ferments and you can find a lot of them in Portland at New Seasons, Whole Foods, various co-ops and other markets. That’s his green bean kimchi — got more than one sample ;)

Careen Stoll — another festival veteran — brought her gorgeous handmade crocks and mortars and pestles again this year. Check out her goods online http://www.fire-keeper.org/

While Claudia Lucero did her demo folks sampled her awesome fermented nut cheeses.

Jon Westdahl and Julie sampling all different Squirrel & Crow tasty tempehs, misos and one of my favorite festival tastes this year — cultured vegan butter. So good.

Festival co-organizer David Barber of Picklopolis sampling his always delicious sour dills. One of my favorite pickles on the planet.

My good friend and super talented animation artist Stephen Bodin put this cool image together for us to announce the festival a few months ago. Love it so much.

First time fest exhibitors Sue and Wendy of NW Ferments (they sell all sorts of fermentation starter cultures) sampling their tasty kombucha.

Rooftop good vibes (and tunes) were provided by DJ Jimbo and Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider. Crazily enough we were rain-free yet another year. The Fermentation Fest is always on a beautiful night. Really pretty view on the Ecotrust roof.

Grant from Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider poured cider on the rooftop all night long. Nat West of Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider’s is my very, very, very favorite hard cider maker.

Matthew of Eva’s Herbucha (one of Portland’s first commercial kombucha makers) poured yummy kombucha from their tap to thirsty festival goers.

I always end these posts with a photo of festival co-organizer George Winborn (in the background) in the jetpack vacuum cleaner but this year David got the honor ;)

Thank you to every last one of you who came out and were a part of making this year’s SEVENTH annual Portland Fermentation Festival so special. Love, love, love you!

Seventh Annual Portland Fermentation Festival 2016

August 23, 2016 in Ecotrust, Food Fermentation, Keep Portland Weird, Portland DIY, Portland Fermentation ..., Portland Food/Drink Event, Portland Pickles, Uncategorized

(Photoshop wizardry by my friend Stephen Bodin.)

Here we go again! The date for the SEVENTH Annual Portland Fermentation Festival at Ecotrust (as always -- we love Ecotrust!) has been set and we're happy to let you know that it can serve to jump start your Halloween weekend this year on Thursday, October 27th from 6-9:30pm. We also encourage you to come out and sample a lot of briny and full of flavor food and drink to help brighten your mind and outlook so that you get out and vote on Election Day less than two weeks later. Do it!

Below are all the details from the press release that we have set so far for this year's stinky good time!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Organizers & Media Contacts:

Liz Crain lizcrain at gmail dot com

George Winborn gw.winborn at gmail dot com

David Barber briney at picklopolis dot com

Seventh Annual Portland Fermentation Festival Thursday, October 27th 6-9:30pm Ecotrust's Billy Frank Jr. Conference Center Rooftop food and drink sales and music curated by DJ Jimbo 721 NW 9th Ave. Portland, OR All ages, open to the public, $10-$20 Children 12 and younger attend for free

Please join us on the evening of Thursday, October 27th (Just days away from Election Day! Vote! Please encourage others to vote!) at Ecotrust for Portland's annual, open-to-the-public, all-ages celebration of fermented food and drink. Bring miso, try miso. Brink sour pickles, try sour pickles. Come out for Portland's premier fermented food and drink skill sharing, recipe sharing and tasting annual event.

Come celebrate pickling season at the Seventh Annual Portland Fermentation Festival at Ecotrust. Taste and share live, fermented foods and drinks made by professionals and home fermentation enthusiasts at the annual festival that brought out 600-plus attendees in 2015. This year's special pre-tasting event will be a panel of fermentation experts including Nat West of Reverend Nat's Hard Cider (He's bringing chicha to sample at this year's festival! All of the corn will be chewed pre-ferment!) and other local food and drink fermentation experts soon to be announced.

Admission for the 7pm or 8pm Thursday tastings and fermentation demos is $10. For $20 attend the 6pm panel of experts on all things food/drink fermentation in addition to the 7pm tasting and fermentation demos. Enjoy rooftop music, food and drink from Reverend Nat's Hard Cider, Bingo Sandwiches and others TBD.

Festival coverage past and present:

KGW Photos from last year's festival at Food Lover's Guide to Portland Cooking Up a Story KBOO Food Show Portland Monthly Willamette Week Portland Mercury OPB

Twitter: @PDXFermentFest Facebook: Portland Fermentation Festival

In the past couple years since my friend Gillion gave me a vinegar mother I've gotten really into making them. In this photo I was straining the Riesling vinegar and more plum wine vinegar. Both super tasty.

Yard Fresh Pt. 32

February 18, 2016 in Cookbooks, Food Fermentation, Portland DIY, Portland food, Tasty n Sons, The Tasty n Sons Cookbook, Toro Bravo: Stories- R..., Uncategorized

Since the start of the year I've been full-time writing again. I did this for the better part of three years between 2006 and 2009 and at the end of that I said I'd never write full-time again. Well, times change, I've learned a few things, forgotten a bunch more and now I'm at it again.

The main difference between then and now work-wise is that I'm now working primarily on books -- two under contract including the Tasty n Sons Cookbook with Sasquatch Books (out fall 2017) and a secret Tin House project (out spring 2017) as well as a novel (out sometime I hope!). In 2006 through 2009 I was mostly working on freelance food writing projects and a book toward the end -- the first edition of Food Lover's Guide to Portland.

What remains the same is that writing full-time is fucking hard and it's easy to burn out if you work a more normal five day, eight-plus hours a day work week. I know that this may sound spoiled and/or crazy since working full-time for yourself writing books sounds so dreamy but I have really strong work ethic so in living the dream I pushed myself a little too hard going into this full-time writing thing again. In the evenings after work I ended up snapping at people and drinking a little too much too often and in general I was just moodier than I want to be. And exhausted -- mentally and physically.

Now that I've realized eight-plus hours of writing five days in a row every week isn't sustainable I'm figuring out how to manage my time a little better and give my brain and body breaks throughout the day. Things that have helped with the transition -- I got a standing desk, I've been taking some mornings off, I've been taking more long walks throughout the day. I'm basically just being nicer to myself and changing my perception of what a proper work week is. Work smarter not harder. So true.

Oh, and food. Cooking has always been a form of therapy for me and when I don't do it enough I feel off and not myself. I think it's similar to how folks who work out regularly feel when they don't work out enough. Here are some tasty treats that I've cooked and eaten in the past couple months. I hope you've been cooking some tasty things too. If so I'd love to hear about it in the comments if you care to share. Happy year of the fire monkey!

Tested these open-faced Monte Cristos for The Tasty Cookbook with anglaise soaked challah, gruyere and spiced maple syrup. Ridiculously good.

Since I've been at my writing studio so much more lately I've been making more soups and stews that I can heat up in my electric hot pot there. Kimchi Chijae is one of my all-time favorites. I use Lauryn Chun's recipe from the Kimchi Cookbook.

Made with my homemade Choi's Kimchi recipe classic kimchi. So tasty. I put a lot of brined shrimp in it this time.

Sandwiches of course are also great to take to work. I made this one with Edelweiss Sausage & Delicatessen's spicy paprika loaf and my homemade sour pickles.

I tested The Tasty Cookbook collards at home a couple weeks ago. They're so yummy and taste like they cooked for hours even though they only took 30 minute/ and I've borrowed my friend's pressure cooker for way too long. I need to return it and get … — I tested The Tasty Cookbook collards at home a couple weeks ago. They're so yummy and taste like they cooked for hours even though they only took 30 minute/ and I've borrowed my friend's pressure cooker for way too long. I need to return it and get one of my own.

I also made this crazy good Mark Bittman pressure cooker black bean soup recently. The best black been soup I've ever made in THIRTY minutes from dry bean to rich, inky, spicy soup. If you have a pressure cooker find this recipe.

Started the Toro Bravo cookbook limoncella at the end of January so it has another week before I strain it, add the simple syrup and then freeze it for two weeks before drinking. One of my favorite recipes from the book.

In the beginning of January my boyfriend Jimbo and I went to Manzanita for a long weekend and it was lovely as always -- especially this simplest of breakfasts. Pomegranate is always such a treat. And The Little Apple is my favorite grocery on the O… — In the beginning of January my boyfriend Jimbo and I went to Manzanita for a long weekend and it was lovely as always -- especially this simplest of breakfasts. Pomegranate is always such a treat. And The Little Apple is my favorite grocery on the Oregon Coast.

One of my favorite quick eats at home is doctored up boxed mac and cheese. I made this one with kimchi, lots of fish sauce, gochugaru and sesame for my best housemat in the world Jennifer and I. I want some now.

I made a loaded with okra and shrimp gumbo last month and the best part of it was cooking it the next morning with rice and eggs and cheese. I will be doing this for the rest of my life. Highly recommend it.

My brother Andy, sister-in-law Laura and I toasting via Skype with the Vanilla Porter that Andy and I brewed when I was home in Cincinnati for Christmas this Christmas Eve. They sent me a package of a few bottles of it as they always do. Crazy good.… — My brother Andy, sister-in-law Laura and I toasting via Skype with the Vanilla Porter that Andy and I brewed when I was home in Cincinnati for Christmas this Christmas Eve. They sent me a package of a few bottles of it as they always do. Crazy good. And so cute.

Andy bottling the vanilla porter a few weeks ago. Laura sent me a photo...

More home recipe testing for The Tasty Cookbook -- Kyle's Granola with homemade sweet labneh and caramelized apples. I'm not all that into cereals but this one is awesome.

Making the labneh for it. Recipe testing till the break of dawn! Love it.

I've been making homemade fruit wines for years but 2015 was the first year I made Concord grape wine and it turns out it's pretty dang tasty. Not as good as the plum wine but yummy.

My Grandma Amy came up with a very special recipe based on a detective series that she read and loved called Wolfe Eggs (named after Rex Stout's character Nero Wolfe) that we had and continue to make for holiday breakfasts and now they're going to b… — My Grandma Amy came up with a very special recipe based on a detective series that she read and loved called Wolfe Eggs (named after Rex Stout's character Nero Wolfe) that we had and continue to make for holiday breakfasts and now they're going to be in a very exciting secret book project that I can't tell you about but will one fine day very soon. RIP Grandma Amy.

Another tasty soup that I took to my writing studio -- Melissa Clark's Red Lentil Soup with Lemon in the New York Times. I love red lentils -- so yummy, pretty and quick to cook.

Pizza night with Jimbo's nephew Jonah, Jimbo's sister Betsy and her fiancee Sara last weekend. We made six pizzas for five humans.

The Dapper Foodists -- Portland Fermentation Fest co-organizers George Winborn, me and David Barber right before the Panel of Fermentation Experts.

Portland Fermentation Festival 2015 Redux

November 09, 2015 in Ecotrust, Food Fermentation, Homemade Food, Keep Portland Weird, Portland DIY, Portland Fermentation ..., Portland Food/Drink Event, Portland Pickles, Uncategorized

I was out a town for a week right after this year's Portland Fermentation Festival so I apologize for the delay in putting this post together. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who came out a couple weeks ago and made the SIXTH annual Portland Fermentation Festival at Ecotrust a huge stinky success!

This year we had all sorts of new tasty treats including our first international neighbor to the north exhibitor. Todd Graham of HandTaste Ferments came all the way from Vancouver B.C. to take part in the fest, we also welcomed our first New York Times covered guest -- panel of fermentation experts participant Tara Whitsitt of Fermentation on Wheels and we had our first festival playlist curated by my favorite fellow -- D.J. Jimbo!

We put the Portland Fermentation Festival together every year with a shoestring budget + heaps of volunteered hours (thank you sooooo much to all of our kick-ass volunteers!) and as always we're so grateful that Ecotrust puts up with us year after year. Thank you again Ecotrust! We love you.

We had some great coverage this year including this spot on KGW News Live at 7 segment with Cassidy Quinn. We've posted most of the other coverage on social media. If you'd like to keep up with local fermenty goings-on please check out our website, Facebook and Twitter.

Below are a whole bunch of photos from this year's Stinkfest! If you have some great ones too please post them to the Facebook page or Twitter them with the hashtag #pdxfermentfest.

Thank you, thank you, thank you and see you all again next year we hope! Stay stinky! Oh, and please let me know if I attributed anything incorrectly. Thanks!

Keep on rockin' in Neil's free world and in our fermented world. — We had to switch the initial Portland Fermentation Fest date when we found out that Neil Young was coming to town that very night. My good friend Steve Bodin made me this image for that press release. Let's just pretend Neil came to the festival and rocked out on an electric pickle.

Festival cuties working the door at Ecotrust. My good friends left to right Wendy Wilson, Loly Leblanc, Kelli Brandt and Jimbo Sandberg.

Before the fest I got some pics of exhibitors including festival royalty Nat West and Sarah West of Reverend Nat's Hard Cider.

Aaaaand festival royalty Matt Choi of Choi's Kimchi.

We're so lucky that super talented Portland artist Tim Root makes the festival poster every year. Love, love, love this year's poster!

We kicked off the festival again this year with an hour-long panel of fermentation experts.

Festival co-organizer George Winborn was the moderator and on the panel left to right was Tara Whitsitt, Matt Choi, Nat West, David Barber and Tressa Yellig. AKA all of the fermentation smarty pants.

After the panel we stacked the chairs and in came the crowd of hungry folks for the first tasting. Eat or be eaten!!

Cuties Connie and Brian Shaw from Hood River's Oregon Brineworks brought an incredible spread just as they did last year.

Including their garlic dills, beet kvass, ginger gold kvass, fermented hot sauce, fermented ketchup and more. So good!

Cassidy Quinn of KGW News came and interviewed us at the beginning of the first tasting and she tried some of David's Picklopolis black pepper fennel kraut. She loved it of course.

Emily Squadra's spicy Mexican kimchi and Korean kimchi were both spicy full-flavored hits.

The loveliest Allison Jones of Portland Monthly checking in on the media list and my good friends Koko Wadeson, Jess Bull and Loly Leblanc rocking their door/ticketing shift.

Todd Graham of HandTaste Ferments in Vancouver B.C. handing out samples of the awesome chickpea tempeh that he demo'd on the mezzanine.

Jenny Hogan of NuCulture Foods with her crazy tasty and creamy cashew spreads. A lot of markets in town carry them. Try them -- so good!

Festival alum and sweetheart Claudia Lucero, proprietor of DIY Cheese Kits by Urban Cheesecraft and author of One-Hour Cheese doing her labneh cheese demo. Really popular demo.

Olive Evelyn Bailey of Lion Heart Kombucha serving up all kinds of delicious fruity kombuchas. I tried the raspberry and it was deeeeelicious!

Tabor Bread baker and baking teacher Sarah Black with gratis sourdough cultures and yummy YUMMY natural starter whole grain rye bread.

My friend Kelli Brandt in the foreground trying Colin Franger in the background's Blue Bus Cultured Foods super tasty Shakedown Beet and Kraut-chi.

And then the second tasting commenced! My friends womaning the door left to right -- Stacy Goodwin, Loly Leblanc, Michelle Gilmore and Michele Knaus.

The rooftop in full swing with tunes by D.J. Jimbo, cider from Reverend Nat's Hard Cider and sandwiches from Bingo Sandwiches. Beautiful night. Beautiful city.

Another rooftop festival cutie -- my good friend Jess Bull.

Crock maker Jon Westdahl on the right, Dario Barone of Sacred Summit and Julie of Squirrel and Crow.

Lovely Sasha Sunday and her crew with all kinds of OlyKraut tastiness including Smoke & Kale, Cumin Jalapeno and Sea Vegetable krauts.

Another festival royalty -- Queen Heidi Nestler of Heidi Nestler Cooking Classes doing her always well attended natto demo on the mezzanine.

The super sweet duo from Eva's Herbucha in the eye of the storm.

My good friend Loly Leblanc made a bunch of friends of the festival these awesome fuzzzzzzzy pickles to wear this year!

Beautiful Careen Stoll of Careen Stoll Ceramics with her beautiful handmade crocks.

Nat West of Reverend Nat's Hard Cider sadly packing up his milk wine. Every year Nat pushes the fermentation boundaries and brings something wacky that you can only try at the festival. Last year he brought LAMB cider. This year MILK wine. Weird and… — Nat West of Reverend Nat's Hard Cider sadly packing up his milk wine. Every year Nat pushes the fermentation boundaries and brings something wacky that you can only try at the festival. Last year he brought LAMB cider. This year MILK wine. Weird and wonderful.

Closing time with my lovely ladies -- Loly Leblanc, Kelli Brandt, me and Michelle Gilmore. Most fun!

Every great Portland Fermentation Festival concludes with George donning his jet pack. All stinky things must come to an end.

Thank you to every last one of you who came out and were a part of this year's sixth annual Portland Fermentation Festival. We love you!

DJ Jimbo won't be spinning at the festival but he's put together a kick-ass salty/spicy/stiiiiinky festival playlist for us this year!

DJ Jimbo Jams for the Portland Fermentation Festival

October 22, 2015 in Ecotrust, Food Fermentation, Food Preservation, Homemade Food, Portland DIY, Portland Fermentation ..., Uncategorized

The final countdown has begun and this year's Sixth Annual Portland Fermentation Festival at Ecotrust is less than a week away -- this coming Tuesday, Oct. 27th from 6-9:30pm! Purchase your tickets now ($10,$20) and you'll have a lot less of a wait on Tuesday to get in. Day of is cash only -- ATM in the building. Children 12 and under get in for free.

On the rooftop you can purchase cider from festival royalty Reverend Nat's Hard Cider, sandwiches from festival co-organizer Bingo Sandwiches, beer AND you can shake a leg to the first ever festival playlist curated by my fine fellow DJ Jimbo!

Here are the songs -- first the actual songs and then their fermenty-pun counterparts. I'd make a Spotify playlist but there are too many songs that they don't have on there to do the list justice. You'll just have to come to the festival to hear it!

Alemany Shintay - Love Is Love Gregory Isaacs - All I Have Is Love Kickball - Sauvie Island The Weather Station - Came So Easy Pinback - Hurley Arlo Guthrie - The Motorcycle Song Justin Timberlake - Strawberry Bubblegum Prince - Raspberry Beret MY BODY - Clementine Ahmad Jamal - Autumn Leaves Goodie Mob - Soul Food The Stone Roses - Elephant Stone Tom Waits - Jockey Full Of Bourbon Typhoon - CPR/Claws Part 2 Gillian Welch - Red Clay Halo Townes Van Zandt - Don't Let The Sunshine Fool You Peter Tsotsi, Nashil Pichen and the Equator Sound Band - Pole Musa (Kenya) Spoon - Who Makes Your Money Wild Ones - From Nothing D'Angelo - Devil's Pie Clams Casino - All I Need [Soulja Boy] Milosh - It's Over

Their Portland Fermentation Festival DJ Jimbo treatment:

Alemany Shintay - Love Is Lacto Gregory Isaacs - All I Chop I Love Kickball - Salty Island The Weather Station - Pickled So Easy Pinback - Vinegurley Arlo Guthrie - The Motorpickle Song Justin Timberlake - Stinky Tofu Bubblegum Prince - Raspberry Lacto-Fermented Beret MY BODY - Clement Wine Ahmad Jamal - Autumn Pickles Goodie Mob - Soul Fizz The Stone Roses - Elephant Stiiiiink Tom Waits - Stoneware Crocky Full Of Bourbon Typhoon - CPR - Crocks Part 2 Gillian Welch - Red Kraut Halo Townes Van Zandt - Don't Let The Fermentation Fool You Peter Tsotsi, Nashil Pichen and the Equator Sound Band - Miso Musa Spoon - Who Makes Your Honey Wild Ones - From Salting D'Angelo - Anaerobic Pie Clams Casino - All I Mead Milosh - It's Demented Fermented

Festival Details:

Portland Fermentation Festival's Facebook event page.

This year we’re having a panel of experts kick of the fest rather than one guest speaker. The inaugural Portland Fermentation Festival was in 2009 with Sandor Ellix Katz as guest speaker and we were lucky enough to get him back to speak at the 2013 fest. Sandor is one of our heroes and favorite people so we asked him to speak again at last year's fest and this was his response:

“sorry can’t make it this year. have fun and keep me posted on future festivals. i’m heading to the boston fermentation festival next month and austin (tx) festival in november. you were the pioneer fermentation festival and they keep spreading…..”

Let’s all be super proud to be a part of “THE PIONEER FERMENTATION FESTIVAL”! We can’t wait to see you all on Tuesday at the STIIIINK!

PRESS RELEASE

Sixth Annual Portland Fermentation Festival Tuesday, October 27th 6-9:30pm Ecotrust’s Billy Frank Jr. Conference Center Rooftop food/drink sales from Bingo Sandwiches, Reverend Nat's Hard Cider & salty/spicy tunes by DJ Jimbo 721 NW 9th Ave. Portland, OR All ages, open to the public, $10-$20 Children 12 and younger attend for free www.portlandfermentationfestival.com PURCHASE TICKETS!

Today is a big day in Portland because October 1st is the first day that you can purchase recreational weed legally AND it's also the first day you can purchase tickets to the Sixth Annual Portland Fermentation Festival! Weed! Mead!

Kicking off this year's festival at Ecotrust is the panel of experts at 6pm moderated by co-organizer George Winborn. On this year's rad panel we have Nat West of Reverend Nat's Hard Cider, festival co-organizer David Barber of Picklopolis and Bingo Sandwiches, Tressa Yellig of Salt, Fire & Time and Broth Bar, Matt Choi of Choi's Kimchi and Tara Whitsitt of Fermentation on Wheels covered by The New York Times +++. Tickets for the panel plus first tasting are $20 and tickets for either of the tastings solo are $10.

The Sixth Annual Portland Fermentation Festival is on the evening of Tuesday, October 27th at Ecotrust. As always it's an open-to-the-public, all-ages celebration of fermented food and drink. Bring kraut, try kraut. Bring miso, try miso. Come out for Portland's fermented food and drink skill sharing, recipe sharing, and tasting event of the year. Taste and share live, fermented food and drinks made by professionals and home fermentation enthusiasts at the annual event that brought out more than 600 attendees in 2014.

Talk to fellow fermenters, exchange cultures and recipes, get advice from local food fermentation enthusiasts, attend fermentation demo's and sample everything from sour pickles, miso and kefir to cheese, hard cider, and mead.

Admission for the 7:00 or 8:00pm Tuesday tasting sessions and fermentation demos is $10. For $20 attend the 6:00pm panel of experts on all things food/drink fermentation in addition to the 7:00pm tasting and fermentation demos. Enjoy salty/spicy rooftop tunes curated by DJ Jimbo, food and drink from Reverend Nat's Hard Cider and Bingo Sandwiches and others TBD.

Visit http://portlandfermentationfestival.com/ for more information.

Purchase tickets!

MEDIA COVERAGE THIS WEEKThe Oregonian

MEDIA COVERAGE OF FESTIVALS PASTKGW Cooking Up A Story Photos from last year's festival Food Lover's Guide to Portland KBOO Food Show OPB Willamette Week

CONNECT WITH THE PORTLAND FERMENTATION FESTIVALportlandfermentationfestival.com Facebook Twitter

This year's festival poster by Tim Root! He always makes us the most incredible festival posters. Download it over on our website and help us plaster it around town and spread the word.

Tickets on Sale -- Sixth Annual Portland Fermentation Festival 2015

October 05, 2015 in Ecotrust, Food Fermentation, Portland DIY, Portland Fermentation ..., Uncategorized

Since 2009 my friends David Barber, George Winborn and I have put on the annual Portland Fermentation Festival with/at Ecotrust ((THANK YOU ECOTRUST!!)) and every year it gets bigger and better. We’re only three weeks out from this year’s festival — Tuesday, Oct. 27th from 6-9:30pm — so I’m taking a moment to let you know all the stiiiiinky details in one place.

Most importantly, online tickets are on sale now ($10, $20) and you can purchase them here. Secondly, you can still apply to be an exhibitor — more info. here. Beyond that I’m pasting the press release below and some recent media links. Here’s the Facebook event page.

Let’s all be super proud to be a part of “THE PIONEER FERMENTATION FESTIVAL”! We can’t wait to see you all in three short weeks at the STIIIINK!