Fermentation workshops
Fermentation workshops
Would you like to learn how to make kimchi, sauerkraut, or mango pickle while also improving access to balanced, nourishing food across communities in Birmingham? Join us at one of our food preservation workshops in our community kitchen situated at the very heart of the Birmingham Wholesale Market!
Preserving fresh produce is a practice rich in tradition and skill – it has always been a fundamental part of a healthy human diet and connection to the land. Why? Because it extends the season of produce across the year, it reduces waste when there is a natural glut in production, it increases or diversifies the nutritional content of the produce through the activity of bacteria and yeasts – and all while preparing something that is ready-to-use in your cooking.
In our workshop, we will cover the basics, tradition, and theory of food preservation. You will learn about the underlying process that you are trying to carry out when preserving no matter what specific produce you are using. Because so many things can be preserved! We will then work together to preserve two types of fresh produce based on what gluts there are at the time at the Birmingham Wholesale Market. We may make ferments such as kimchi or sauerkraut, we may pickle mango or carrot, or we may make chutney with tomatoes and ginger.
To really make use of the scale of produce we can access here at the markets, we won’t just make a couple of jars for you to take home – we will work together to make enough for other members of the community to enjoy too through the Birmingham Food Justice Network. You can learn more about the work we do with the Birmingham Food Justice Network here.
The full workshop price is designed to subsidise two free slots per workshop. This is to welcome those for whom this course would normally be inaccessible and make our group of would-be preservers more representative of our community. If you are reading this and assuming that you won’t be able to afford to join, then one of our subsidised places is for you!
Our workshops run from 10am – 2pm, with a 30 minute break for lunch at midday. Lunch will be provided, where you will get to enjoy one of the tasty plant-based meals that we have made for the Brimingham Food Justice Network alongside some of our previously-made pickles or chutneys. Each workshop place also helps to fund the production of more meals for the network. Thank you!
