Get Pickled Somerset

Andalucia, you stole my heart the first time I visited you 30 years ago and yet you never cease to amaze me...

A short but well needed break with the people I most love in this world. A time to celebrate all the good I have in my life.

That alone would make for a great holiday but then, being in this glorious land made it into a perfect break. All my senses have been set alight:

The food, oh my on my...I ate my body weight in divine seafood, razor clams and prawns for days. Fire cooked fish with barely a squeeze of lemons and ajo y perejil. The perfect oranges and astonishing peaches and sangrias to my heart's content!

The sweet fragrance of azahar in public spaces. The inebriating night jasmin in balconies in town. The harsh landscapes with miles of olive groves in between and the hidden valleys with pine forests. The golden hour that seems to go on for hours and brings these sceneries to life.

The castanets and guitar of flamenco shows. The passion in the singing... The fire cracker rhythms of Spanish everywhere

To top it all, a date night under the expert hand of the brilliant Diego Gallego and his team - but this will be a post in itself. THE MOST BRILLIANT FOOD I have had in ages!

Thanks also to for hosting us so well and being the perfect base for our holiday .

On my way back home, savouring all the great moments and memories we shared. Olé!

Soup for a cold summer day

This July has been a cold one so far and I find myself being drawn to hearty and warming meals to get me through the chilly evenings. One of my go-to recipes was my Granny’s minestrone recipe – this was always more of a set of guidelines to do a seasonal veggie soup, then instructions set in stone.

I find this recipe a great way to get going 30 plant a week fix. This way I am making sure I ingesting all that varied kind of prebiotic fibre to feed the good bacteria in my gut. It is also great for batch cooking and freezes really well.

This time I scoured my fridge for all the veggies that needed using: carrots, kohralbi greens, potatoes, golden beets, courgettes and the last of my garlic scapes. A sprouted onion and some celery, added some organic Hodmedod’s Lentil and organic stock. I threw a parmesan rind but you can easily can go without it, it’s tasty as it is. Finally just add some stelli pasta, because who am I kidding? I need all the carby goodness to get through this horrific weather.

This soup always change according to what I have around and this is the beauty of it. It takes just about 40min from start to finish. For a full recipe just check link in bio. This time I also came across some sad peppers that got a Romanesco treatment:

This little plate of food in the end, when together with a slice of heritage grain brown of sourdoung from the Rye Bakery, gave me over 30 different plants in the end. Wham, bam, thank you mam…

Do you have a favourite easy plant rich recipe that you always use?

SUMMER UPDATES

Hello everyone, can you feel the summer finally coming into its own?

In a few days I will be celebrating its arrival in Stonehenge for the Solstice with some of my sister in fermentation. Embracing the sun and its warmth and welcoming that energy for this time of the year, and remembering that this is the time to recharge before we wind down for winter.

I intend to fully inhabiting this season. I am doing the Frome Independent market on the 7th of July and after I am taking a break. I have a really special batch, all from the beautiful homegrown produce from my garden, chickpea, chillie and garlic miso and elderflowers.

Then it is off for a break. No production or markets for me in August. I will be off somewhere warm with my boys, then enjoying the best of English summer with visiting family. So if you want to Get Pickled me, come and stock on the 7th. Or else I will be back in September.

I fully intend to come back fully recharged after a challenging 6 months. Full of love and fun to share with you all.

There will still be some content here - as this season has so much to offer to fermenters and this is the time that fermentation really comes on its own, when you make the best of your abilities to lock in the goodness of peak season vegetables, fruits and wild plants.

I will also be back for workshops then. And we will be celebrating equinox with a special deal for 2 for 1 deal for a KIMCHI-JANG with Rebecca Ghim from .ferm.london (LINK IN BIO). We will be releasing the discount code next week, so keep your eyes out for our announcement.

What are your plans for the summer?



-jang

On behalf of everyone at the Guarani e Kaiowaa village of Gwyra Kambi’i in Mato Grosso do Sul, I am thanking everyone who has contributed/purchased the webinar on chicha at .

The monies have already been sent to the community who are now sourcing the materials to finalise their ogapysy – the sacred house at the heart of their community. This is a physical space to connect with their central deity Nhanderu Tupa by means of a series of seasonal rituals and ceremonies which restore and ensure harmony within the community itself.

In the context of violent conflicts with the neighbouring non-indigenous population, reduced space and a lack of ecological resources has led to a reduced number of ceremonial houses being built, while a recent increase in religious intolerance has led to two ceremonial houses being violently destroyed in arson attacks over the last twelve months. The absence of an Oga Pysy is understood to result in social disharmony and a breakdown of community

The work however is not finished, and combined with the dengue epidemic that is rampant in the region – the community is still at risk and struggling. If you are curious about the community and want to know more about their beliefs and support their efforts, please check the chicha webinar on the Fermentation School website. You are still able to purchase/donate, with the knowledge that this will truly make a difference for this embattled community

Or if you want to learn more about the experience of filming the webinar, the connection with the community and how my research is progressing I will be joined by for a Instagram Live next week, on the 12th of June, 7pm GMT.

I will be able to take questions and talk about other aspects of my field trip too! I hope you are able to join us.

After all this song and dance about my change course, you might ask me – how is your fermentation practice?

And I would say: “very well indeed”…

This slowdown of pace and business has allowed me to go back to one of my favourite things – be free to experiment in the kitchen. Without the pressure of full commercial production my attention can be focused back to use what I have at hand, to go off piste and just try out unusual combos.

From doing zero waste ferments, to dabble with different substrates and wild plants, here are some of my latest jars:

- Shallots in turmeric brine: I had an old bag of shallots and a finished packet of turmeric, some gooseberry leaves from the garden and pickling spices and voila

- Amazake based jalapeno hot sauce after a lovely chat with the good peeps

- Puba (fermented cassava), wild garlic and squash miso mustard

What experiments do you have on the go?

Hello everyone, are you still there?

I have been MIA these last couple of weeks, but for good reason.

A lot has been happening at Get Pickled HQ, life wise and work wise. Tough decisions have been made and new projects are abreast so I am happy to share the news first hand with you.

As I have been hinting heavily, we are scaling down production. I have loved developing products, engaging with everyone at markets but unfortunately this is not really working for me. You can still find me once a month at the mighty but that is it. Maybe the odd Christmas sale or 2, no online sales or shops for us. I am also happy on the knowledge that there are a few amazing local businesses offering beautiful fermented foods too.

I’m keeping the workshops going but they will be far and in between, so if you want to get pickled with me, I would suggest looking at our current offers and save your spot. This side of summer we still have a few places left for our Introduction to Fermenting Vegetables, Fermented Drinks and a DYI Hot Sauces. We have a fantastic special offering in September, a kimchi-jang with Korean fermenter extraordinaire Rebecca Ghim of .ferm.london. We will pick our own organic napa cabbages at and make our kimchi under Rebecca guidance, and we will learn and explore the role of this ferment in Korean national identity. We finish with a kimchi based traditional meal, packed with pickles and drinks. There will be some dates in October but nothing firm yet. www.getpickledsomerset.com/events

You can still find me here, sharing my passion for fermenting, foraging and generally pottering around in the kitchen and my garden (just the season for it). I have new recipes and experiments that I am really looking forward to share with you. The rest of my time and energy will be now focused on the PhD research and advocacy around chicha making by the Guarani e Kaiowaa elders in Mato Grosso do Sul – updates on this coming soon, but if you would like to learn more check the webinar I have recently done for .

I hope to see you somewhere along the way!

Very happy to be part of the mighty Clem's Fair this coming Friday and Saturday!

Hello everyone, after a very eventful beginning to my trip to Brazil I am happy to say: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

I am starting my research work around chicha a fermented beverage and its role for the Guarani Kaiowaa people of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, and with a bang. We were able to record the webinar for the fermentation school with 2 of the most incredible nhandesy Dona Merina e Dona Neuza and her yvraija Jancira at Gwyra Kamby’I retomada village in Douradina, MS.

It was hot sweaty work but myself together with The Fermentation School (remotely) were so touched and humbled to be able to be in the presence of these incredible woman shamans of the Guarani e Kaiowaa, and who are the guardians of the chicha, as this is a female only practice. They shared the rituals and beliefs around chicha making and their sacred white corn.

If you like to learn more about it, I urge you to sign up for the webinar at the Fermentation School website. This is also a unique chance to support this embattled community who is at the heart of the aggressive growth of the soya industry in Brazil, with devastating ecological impact, and on the back of that, the growth of evangelical churches who demonise their work. All monies from this webinar are being destined to the community.

🪻✨🌱!!SPRING PROMOTION ALERT!!🌱✨🪻

Spring has finally sprung and to celebrate we have a 25% discount code valid for all our workshop SPRING25

Get inspired to make the best of the seasons with our offerings:

🌱- All about nettles: from sauerkraut to garden uses
Let’s celebrate this powerful plant ally in all its fermenty goodness

🦠- Introduction to Fermented Vegetable
Learn how safely make all kind of lacto-ferments from krauts, to kimchi to brine pickles

🌱- Ferment and Forage: Wild Garlic Deep Dive
A unique experience on a private garden when we can harvest wild garlic and learn how to ferment, preserve and cook. Lunch included.

🦠- Introduction to Fermented Drinks: a primer in Water Kefir and Wild Sodas
Learn the best practices to make your very own fizzy probiotic drinks

🌶️ DYI Fermented Hot Sauces and Other Condiments
Up your condiment and heat up in time for summer

🇰🇷 Kimchi-Jang with Rebecca Ghim, a traditional kimchi making communal event
Join us for a field to fermenter special event with Korean fermenter Rebecca

For tickets and more information go to our website (link in BIO).

This promotion is valid until 05/04/2024.

Posted • We are honored to share with you a beautiful collaboration we have been developing!

Along with the fabulous Paula Neubauer of .somerset The Fermentation School will be presenting a conversation about traditional chicha making with indigenous women of Guarani e Kaiowaa in Mato Grosso du Sol, Brazil.

Chicha is a fermented beverage made with white corn or sweet potato, very common in Central and South America.

We will be speaking with the female shaman (Nhandesy), the guardian of the chicha beverage, and her shaman-in-training (Yvaraija) on April 3, and will share the recording with registrants just afterward.

​
(Link in profile)

Chicha is a fermented beverage made from white corn or sweet potato
For ages, the Guarani e Kaiowaa community has prepared chicha ceremonially and enjoyed it ritually, but the practice of fermenting and drinking chica is endangered, because the people themselves are endangered.

The threat to the Guarani e Kaiowaa community has been widely documented. The people have been displaced from their ancestral homelands by industrial cattle and mono crop farming for several decades now.

Still, they persist. The women Nhandesy will share with us why chicha making is cultural preservation and an act of indigenous resistance and sovereignty, while also sharing with us how the chicha is made and its significance for women in the community.

​

The community is welcoming this very special conversation, to give voice to their cause and their traditions, and to keep the act of chicha making alive and honored in the fermentation community.

This is a benefit event: Choose on the sliding scale of $5-$50 to buy your ticket, and all proceeds will benefit the Guarani e Kaiowaa community in building the roof of their sacred house (ogapysy).

I truly hope you will opt in for this special conversation! I believe it will not only teach you about chicha and the cause of the women in Mato Grosso du Sol, but it will also expand and deepen your heart and your world.

Get Pickled Somerset All about fermentation education - run by Brazilian award-winning cook, teacher & fermenting expert

Hello everyone,

It has been a long time since I did a “writey” post but I think this overdue.

First thanks for everyone who came to say hi – It was a gorgeous and beautiful day and pretty much sold out. I love hearing the feedback from returning costumers and workshop attendees, and the praise does not hurt too 😉.

I guess I am here to share with you all that I am taking a step back from the production side of Get Pickled. I am NOT stopping altogether but simply really keep it to a basic “capsule collection” of products, such as my award-winning Alt Kimchi and Spicy Banana Ketchup. Maybe some of the other ones will come up if in season but not always. I am also committed to creating one-off ferments, using seasonal and foraged plants. I am trying it out a couple of umami pastes using barley and pulses, or even bread surplus from the .

At the moment I am focusing on the educational side of this enterprise, not just as fermentation workshops for techniques and gut health but also for its cultural aspects. I believe that community is at the heart of fermentation and by bringing people together to learn about food cultures is a way of building bridges and creating diversity. Alongside my usual workshops there will be unique offerings, like Kimchi-Jang making Korean fermenter Rebecca Ghim of .ferm.london in September and a few more lined up.

At the same time, I am back to my academic roots and applied for a PhD on the intersection of fermentation and anthropology within the context of chicha making of the Guarani e Kaiowaa people of Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil. I am dedicating a lot of my time to this one, and I am off to Brazil for field work in a couple weeks. I have also teamed up with the for a special event around that.

This is for now from me, I will be back trading for Spring Sale and Frome Indie in May. Until then you can find some jars at

Fermented Drinks: Wild Sodas and Water Kefir

As I mentioned every time, my fermentation journey started when a friend gave me her homemade water kefir and pointed me in the direction of Sandor Ellix Katz’s book, Wild Fermentation.

Since then, I have fallen in and out of love for water kefir making but I always have some grains at the ready in the fridge to be awakened as the weather warms up.

I have also started experimenting with wild sodas and sort of different ways of harvesting wild yeast to make probiotic rich yummy fizzy drinks from Brazilian Aluas, to Ginger Beers and whey sodas.

Fancy coming and exploring the amazing world of Fermented Drinks with me?

I have a few spaces left on my next workshop on the 22nd of February at the Rye Bakery.

www.getpickledsomerset.com

I also cover them on my Half Day Masterclass, and we have very special one coming up on the 9th of March, for the first flush of wild garlic at Redford House

Or subscribe for my newsletter for our upcoming dates!

Hello lovelies

I hope you are keeping well into your goals for 2024, even in the face of a very cold and bleak Quitter’s Day. Today was a good day to reflect on my very own challengea month-long dire histamine elimination diet… I hear you say, what???

I have been struggling with allergies and an over-active immune systems since childhood. A few years ago, I even gave myself anaphylactic shock by cooking penne alla norma (nightshades and chillies). Long story short, my reactions have been getting increasingly worse, and this last December I had another anaphylactic episode.

As there are so many variables involved with my allergies (respiratories/skin/food), I decided to follow the advice of my herbal medicine/nutrition/fermenter guide .webster.health and cut out histamine rich foods from my diet. I was not quite prepared what that would entail… started easy enough but the more I found out about the harder it got:

- No alcohol
- No cured meats
- No mature cheeses
- NO FERMENTED FOODS (That means no miso, sourdough, kimchi etc))
- No tomatoes/spinach/aubergine/chillies
- No pulses/legumes
- No citrus fruits
- No nuts/seeds
- Very fresh meat/fish

I imagined I could do a keto-ish diet but two weeks in, I am really missing protein from dairy and beans!

I came to realise how much I rely on fermented food for flavour in my cooking. A shorthand for seasoning and umami that I am missing terribly. So back to sofrittos, a little bit of vinegar and a lot of herbs to lift up my meals. I’m getting into the rhythm of cooking without ferments and welcome the challenge to create new combinations. The sweet potato/watercress hash pictured here was one.

The worst isto be teaching fermentation and not being able to sample the wares! That’s a small (and temporary) price to pay to find out what are the triggers that cause my dangerous allergic responses.

I’m taking a lot of supplements and herbal remedies to support my immune system, while I wait to have allergy tests done.

Did you set some goals for 2024?

Are you looking for new skills to start the year?

Why don’t you have a look on our workshop program for winter?

From kimchi and sauerkraut, to fermented and even miso, this a great chance to invest in your health and yourself. Fermentation is not just good for you but the environment too, reducing waste and increasing your plant intake.

We have filled out most of the spaces but the is still come availability. Come and join us, we have a 20% discount code too NEWYEAR20 so this is also good for pockest.

Come and Get Pickled with me!

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The accidental and incidental booze!

Even though I am called Get Pickled, I am not one for making alcoholic fermentation – I much more for enjoy the final and finer results of my fellow fermenter, if you get my drift 😉

However, when you work with microbes, especially yeasts, there is no escaping the natural process in which they convert sugars into alcohol. Sometimes, I might actually be working towards this process, as when I make a vinegar. Sometimes, it is more a question of a happy accident which gives me delightful results:

(Left to right)

1. Oat amazake, barley koji: “oat” wine and lees – more of an experiment into making a “oat” vinegar with dry bread yeast, but gave me a surprisingly delicious result and quaffable result.

2. Spiced pumpkin cheong – started as autumnal, zero waste cheong with pumpkin surplus last November. Boozy AF and divine. A thick, syrupy liqueur which will be liberally sprinkled on crumbles, biscuits and borekas.

3. Elderflower/cassava mirin (barley koji) – the happy accident here was oversteeping elderflower blossom in vodka. It became quite medicinal, left over a year with cassava and koji turned into a floral vermouth like aperitif. Not to be shared with anyone apart from my very loved ones.

4. A low salt raspberry shio koji – the perfect case study on the Venn Diagram of my interests: have koji, will use it x no plant left behind. The low salt content allowed the yeasts to run riot here, and the added sugar in the rice koji made into a punchy raspberry dry cider.

And through these processes I am once again feel connected to our forebearers and how we developed foods that we take so much for granted nowadays. I can help but imagine which happy fermentation accidents gave cheese, wines and breads…

Did you ever have any happy fermentation accidents?

Do you know we have a newsletter?

So if you want to receive exclusive recipes, like this palm heart and pineapple fermented salsa, I would suggest you sign up for it!

You will also be the first to know about upcoming events and get early bird discounts too.

There you will also find in-depth information on current research trips and projects... Like my residency at and all about my obsession with Brazilian ancestral drinks.

Oh did I mention you also get a FREE intro to fermented vegetables handout. And I will also start to run competitions too !

Just check our website www.getpickledsomerset.com

And what else would you like to see on my newsletter?

As some of you may know, this trip to Brazil had an ulterior than just to meet family… I have been taking this opportunity to learn more about ancestral fermentation drinks. Some from the Amazon, my father’s homeland and some from farther afield.

In particular, I had been invited for a unique experience to come into a Guarani e Kaiowá community in Mato Grosso do Sul and learn about their traditional drink: chicha.

I think at this point a little historical background it is important. There has been much reported about violation of indigenous rights in Brazil and increasing deforestation of the original forest in the Amazon, however few know about the specific issues faced by the Guarani e Kaiowá.

Their original territory has long been encroached by cattle farming but since the 70s there has been a lot of increased pressure from government in occupation of the area and clearing for industrial agricultural practices. The level of displacements and aggression against Guarani e Kaiowá reached unimaginable levels. Since the 90s the indigenous leaderships fought back claiming ancestral land, which led to increased clashes with the land owners. It has reached breaking in the last few years before the pandemic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED5rHU1YEKE

At that point the UN claimed it an ethnocide for this population, as their way of life was been erased and its people and culture. And that was even before our last president, Jair Bolsonaro, who was always openly dismissive of indigenous peoples rights and pro big-farming.

I felt so honoured to be welcomed by a Kaiowá family to learn about chicha. This a fermented drink at the heart of their celebrations and it made solely by the women, from harvest ( local sweet potato or white corn) to the cooking, processing and overseeing of the fermentation process. Not many families continue to make their own – this embattled history of the Guarani e Kaiowá meant that a lot traditional knowledge and transmission of it on the familial living has been lost.

I learned so much that would be impossible to share in just one post. I intend to do a series here and some more in-depth material on my website. As some of you may know, this trip to Brazil had an ulterior than just to meet family… I have been taking this opportunity to learn more about ancestral fermentation drinks. Some from the Amazon, my father’s homeland and some from farther afield.

In particular, I had been invited for a unique experience to come into a Guarani e Kaiowá community in Mato Grosso do Sul and learn about their traditional drink: chicha.

I think at this point a little historical background it is important. There has been much reported about violation of indigenous rights in Brazil and increasing deforestation of the original forest in the Amazon, however few know about the specific issues faced by the Guarani e Kaiowá.

Their original territory has long been encroached by cattle farming but since the 70s there has been a lot of increased pressure from government in occupation of the area and clearing for industrial agricultural practices. The level of displacements and aggression against Guarani e Kaiowá reached unimaginable levels. Since the 90s the indigenous leaderships fought back claiming ancestral land, which led to increased clashes with the land owners. It has reached breaking in the last few years before the pandemic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED5rHU1YEKE

At that point the UN claimed it an ethnocide for this population, as their way of life was been erased and its people and culture. And that was even before our last president, Jair Bolsonaro, who was always openly dismissive of indigenous peoples rights and pro big-farming.

I felt so honoured to be welcomed by a Kaiowá family to learn about chicha. This a fermented drink at the heart of their celebrations and it made solely by the women, from harvest ( local sweet potato or white corn) to the cooking, processing and overseeing of the fermentation process. Not many families continue to make their own – this embattled history of the Guarani e Kaiowá meant that a lot traditional knowledge and transmission of it on the familial living has been lost.

I learned so much that would be impossible to share in just one post. I intend to do a series here and some more in-depth material on my website.

I owe all of this to Fabi Fernandes and her long term work with these communities. I am also very thankful for Luan .iturv and his work as my translator and guide.