Member Online Masterclass: Fermentation with Jelena Belgrave

Member Events

- Ingredients (a week before each workshop Jelena will email round a list of ingredients that you need to collect)

Join fermentation expert Jelena Belgrave for a foray into the world of metabolic food-processing, organic acids, bacteria and yeast. We will explore what drives people to ferment, how to do it safely at home, and look at different fermentation types before settling on lactic acid fermentation. This masterclass spans two Mondays in order to explore the two different lactic acid fermentation processes: brining and dry-salting.

- Monday 23rd November from 11am-12.30pm - Fermentation part 1: Brining with pumpkin

Jelena will introduce the practice of fermentation while we start to hollow out our experimental fermentation vessel: the humble pumpkin! We will use our pumpkin or squash as a vessel while we create a ferment using the brining method. A week before the workshop Jelena will email round a list of ingredients that you need to collect.

- Monday 30th November from 11am-12.30pm - Fermentation part 2: Dry salting for Christmas Kimchi

The group reconvenes to see how our trick of fermenting in a squash/pumpkin turned out! We’ll recap the brining method, talk through do's and dont's, confirm safe fermenting practices,and then proceed to make a Christmas-friendly kimchi, which will teach participants the dry-salting method.

To take part in the session you will need:

-       A tray or bowl; some glass jars with lids; a chopping board
-       A permanent marker
-       Ingredients (a week before each workshop Jelena will email round a list of ingredients that you need to collect)

No experience or skill necessary, all welcome!

If you are not already an Institute of Making member or are new to UCL, you will need to register as a member of the Institute of Making in order to book this workshop, which is open to all staff and students at UCL. Once registered, you will be able to book places on our online events and activities, and you will receive email notification of upcoming events and news.

Fermentation expert and potter Jelena Belgrave started to investigate her food identity in London’s diverse cultur environment after a career with BBC News. Through her fermentation practice, Jelena explores her Balkan heritage and delves into macrobiotic training, extracting and sharing fermentation practices from around the world. She runs fermentation workshops for kids and adults at a greenhouses charity in South East London and provides teaching and consultation for both individuals and food businesses through tailored private workshops. Her young family has become accustomed to having Research & Development jars all around the house, although they wish she would contain them in one place.

Images courtesy of Jelena Belgrave.