Kirsten Shockey on teaching, first ferments and connecting with food
This week, Robin spoke to Kirsten Shockey, author of Fermented Vegetables (now out for 10 years!) and co-founder of The Fermentation School. We covered everything from germ theory to making a living in publishing, and Himalayan gundruk to tempeh as a secret food.
Reaching all the way back to our fermenting ancestors, and the knowledge they've passed down, but which now terrifies us, because we've become disconnected from food systems. Speaking of the food system, Kirsten also discusses the role of factory bread in bringing women into the workforce, and whether fermentation can fix the inherent wastefulness of the food-industrial complex.
We explored the origins of Kirsten's Fermentation School and its woman-run courses, as well as how Kirsten herself started out as a school teacher and then got into fermentation because she wanted her children to be connected to food (and how her son became a goat midwife and cheesemaker).
Kirsten's books, Fermented Vegetables, Fiery Ferments, Homebrewed Vinegar, and Miso, Tempeh, Natto & Other Tasty Ferments are available in all good bookshops, and you can also read her more recent thoughts on fermentation and other things on her Substack, and find her courses on The Fermentation School.
Hosted by Robin Sherriff.
Original music & editing by David Craigie.
The Fermenters Guild Podcast
Bringing bubbles of microbe-related discourse directly to your earholes, Fermenters Guild founder Robin Sherriff hosts conversations with fermenters from across the fizzosphere.
We cover topics from food waste to nutrition to book publishing to seasonality, discussing everything which fermentation lands upon (which, like so much wild yeast, is almost limitless).
Where can you listen?
