CLASSES
&
WORKSHOPS
VEGETABLE FERMENTATION
with Sandor Katz
Sandor will build upon the "Basics of Sauerkraut" workshop taught by Sash Sunday (see class below) as well as cover the difference between dry salting and brining. He will demonstrate brining techniques and discuss other brining and pickling paste ideas. This is a hands-on workshop and you will go home with your own jar of fermenting veg!
*Sandor Ellix Katz, aka Sandorkraut --
THE ART OF FERMENTATION
with Sandor Katz
Join Sandor Katz as he discusses the art of fermentation. This class will be a general overview where Sandor will share the knowledge he has gained over decades of fermenting.
FERMENTING GRAINS
with Sandor Katz
Sandor will cover an array of grain ferments, including practices and why they are important to the process. In this class he will also introduce us to malting and koji, cover the basics of sourdough starters, and discuss kvass and bread recycling.
Tempeh: The meat that wants to be eaten
with Dan Dean
Join Chef Dan of Bouilla Restaurant for a demonstration on how to make tempeh at home! Learn what tempeh is literally and philosophically, during this class.
*Chef Dan has 23 years of restaurant industry experience, but only recently has become aware of the importance probiotic foods have in our lives. After burning out countless times in a restaurant industry full of out-dated ideologies, Dan has found new meaning and purpose in sharing his probiotic creations with his customers and his community!
Sourdough Starter Basics
with Laura Shannon
We will talk creation and care for a basic sourdough starter and where you can go with it beyond just making a lively sourdough loaf- but you'll be able to do that too! Participants will leave with a sourdough starter of their own and a small booklet with recipes, tips and ideas.
*Laura is the baker extraordinaire and owner of the Dixon Mercantile!
Sauerkraut: The Basics
with Sash Sunday
Basic Sauerkraut making, explanation of fermentation, and a conversation about recipe development and rules of thumb. OlyKraut tasting at the end!
*Sash Sunday is the Fermentationist and Founder of OlyKraut. She is obsessed with food and has enjoyed growing, preparing, and preserving it for many years. Sash studied the science and culture of food, and sustainable agriculture at The Evergreen State College and then earned her MBA in Sustainable Systems with a certificate in Food and Agricultural Business at Presidio Graduate School. She put her fermentation fanaticism into practice as OlyKraut in 2008 and is proud that the business is 13 years and counting, a certified B-Corp, and has won 8 Good Food Awards. She’s been a farmer, a teacher, a traveling performer, a mechanic, and now a slinger of sauerkraut. She’d love to make some food with you and share some information.
Making Aged Sheep Milk Cheese
with Allison Dembek
This class will briefly outline the first 3 steps of cheesemaking - whether and how to pasteurize, how to culture your milk and how to create a great curd set. Then together we'll start the fun of how to handle and treat your curd to create a wonderful wheel of cheese. Finally we'll discuss techniques of how to age cheese, so you know what to do with your own mini-wheel of a Manchego-style cheese you get to take home.
*Arriving at Tucker Family Farm in 2015 as a WWOOF volunteer, Allison completed her apprenticeship with our first cheesemaker, Stig Hansen, and has been running the creamery and growing in her craft ever since. Her keen eye for details and management carried over from her first career in supply chain logistics, but she is very much a proud Montanan now, where she focuses her skills on crafting world class cheese and enriching our community of local producers. Allison is committed to popularizing sheep’s milk cheese in the American market, both by educating consumers and training new cheesemakers.
Souring Grains & Long Fermentation for Home Baking
with Dan Venturella
This class will go over bakers %, cracking & souring grains, adding them into your sourdough loaves, developing your own recipes, formulas/techniques for Scandinavian style rye breads.
*Dan is the co-owner of Grist Milling & Bakery in Missoula, MT. He specializes in naturally leavened breads with fresh milled grain. Some of my interests are wood fired ovens, croissant and rye breads.
Home Brewing with Idaho Kombucha
with Terri & Mike
Join Terri & Mike Landa, owners of Idaho Kombucha Company, for an introduction to the world of home brewing. You will learn the science of kombucha, primary and secondary fermentation including flavoring ideas, and bottle conditioning techniques. You will also get to sample Idaho Kombucha flavors and leave with the knowledge, recipe and authentic culture to begin brewing kombucha like a pro!
*Mike & Terri Landa co-founded Idaho Kombucha Co. with the intention of creating kombucha that was equally delicious and healthful. They strive for the perfect balance between sweet and tart with subtle, nuanced flavors that retain the taste and benefits of authentic kombucha. Terri has been a wellness educator for over 20 years and Mike has mentored students throughout his career. They currently teach kombucha classes in Boise and are passionate about sharing their craft.
Small Batch Ferments: Pastes
with Samantha O'Byrne
This hands on class is targeting the beginner interested in small batch, home ferments. We will have a brief introduction and work in small groups processing three batches (leek paste, pepper pasted and tomato conserve). All participants will leave with one of each batch and step by step directions on how to finish the fermenting process.
*Samantha O'Byrne has been a small batch enthusiast for about six years. It all started with hot pepper paste! Now she grows 18 pounds of hot peppers in her home garden every season in order to have enough pepper paste to make it through the cold, dark Montana winter. Samantha runs the O'Hara Commons Sustainability Center in Hamilton, MT.
Small Batch Wine, Cider, Beer, Mead and more!
with Jamie Drysdale
Exploring everything you need to know about the endeavor of home wine making. We will talk about the basics of fermentation behind, fruit wine, beer, mead, maple mead, braggots, ciders and cisers! We will talk sugars, yeasts, sanitation, temperatures, additives, carbonation, exotic ingredients, flavor and off flavors. Hands on displays of all the equipment needed to get started will be at the class as well as recipes, quick reference handouts, and of course, ample samples. Join others to discover the philosophy and joy of fermentation exploration through your very own creative alcoholic beverages. Class for beginner and intermediate fermenters.
*Jamie Drysdale began making beer in his kitchen fifteen years ago and quickly moved into all sorts of fermented beverages.
He has made dozens of fruit and herb wines, beers, meads, maple meads, braggots, ciders and cisers; with no batch bigger than five gallons.
Jamie enjoys working with a wide range of ingredients, crafting unique recipes, trouble shooting, and perfecting each batch. But his favorite part of the process is when he gets to let go of the reigns, allowing the mystical fermentation to work behind closed doors, as he eagerly awaits what tastes will emerge on the other side.
Creative Kombucha + Fermented Cocktails
with Sam Avery
Let’s face it, there’s only so much healthy food you can consume “for your health”. Isn’t it a lot more fun to do things for, well, fun? In this class, we will walk you through creating your own inspired and totally unique fermented cocktail/mocktail mixers to help add some “f*ck yah, I made this” enthusiasm to your next patio party, tailgate weekend, or stay at home date night. On the menu will be an artfully crafted kombucha flavor, a tart and tangy beet kvass (better “hair of the dog” than a Bloody Mary…), and an apple cider vinegar shrub made with fresh fall fruit. This class will include supplies, ingredients and recipes plus detailed instructions that can be taken home along with your set of three “parties in a jar”. We will also spend some time discussing our purported specialty of flavor pairing/mixing so that you can continue to create your own one of a kind beverages. That neighbor who always brings her “ginger” kombucha to the Sunday potluck? Yah, she’s going to resent you. Hope that’s cool…
*Sam Avery is a cherry farmer’s daughter from Polson, MT who eventually became a Cellular and Molecular Biology grad from the University of Montana. She and her husband now own Dark Side Fermenters in the Flathead Valley; a kombucha company that focuses on making cocktail ready flavors inspired by literature, film, and exotic locations.
Fermenting Honey,
Fairy Tales & Facts
with Ken Schultz
Learn the history of, general and specific rules for fermenting honey
*The legend begins in Mentor Ohio when a boy is fascinated watching his uncle, a research chemist, transform juice into wine. The fascination becomes passion when he does his eighth grade science project on fermentation. Ken Schultz is on his way to becoming a winemaker! In 1975 he began making wine as a hobby, using the native varieties of grapes from the Great Lakes region where he lived. In 1979, Ken and his wife Lisa moved to Montana, where they lived in a tipi while they worked on their home.The lack of modern convenience did not deter Ken from his hobby and he continued to make wine and store it in the wine cellar beneath the tipi! The lack of local/available grapes in western Montana however was discouraging. In 1989, a neighbor gave Ken a 5 gallon bucket of crystallized honey and he decided to try his hand at making honey wine, the most ancient of all fermented beverages.The day after bottling the mead, Ken and his family moved to Papua New Guinea to develop a village level vocational training program. Arriving back in the USA, a long 7 years later, they all celebrated by trying the honey wine and it was heralded by all as wonderful! Mead is an enchanting wine that evokes thoughts of legend and lore, song and poetry and is enjoyed by people in all walks and stages of life. Ken is the owner of Hidden Legend Winery in Victor, MT.