Toasted Rye Tea

We sourced rye berries from Castle Valley Mill. We toast them in a pan, on low-medium heat, until the berries develop a light golden hue and are lightly aromatic.

Emmer Tempeh

Emmer Tempeh

This was prepared similarly to Soybean Tempeh, using Black Emmer from Wild Hive Farm.

Cherry Umeboshi

This experiment is a variation on traditional Japanese umeboshi, which is made with plums. This version uses cherries, subjecting them to a lacto-fermentation before partially dehydrating them to crea...

Sour Plum Soda

Sour Plum Soda

This is a naturally fermented soda made from plums using a carrot bug as the starter. The process involves blending ripe and slightly underripe plums, diluting the juice, and allowing it to ferment at...

Blackened Tempeh "Chocolate"

The Blackened Tempeh was dehydrated for approximately four hours and then ground into a powder. This powder was mixed with vegetable oil and sugar to create a paste with a texture comparable to chocol...

Blackened Tempeh

This project is an attempt to create a savory, chocolate-like product from tempeh using blackening. By holding the tempeh at a constant high temperature for an extended period, the goal is to develop...

Koji-Salt Cured Anise Hyssop

This experiment is an attempt to create a salt cure using anisse hyssop flowers from Furnace Creek Farm. By combining the flowers with Koji and a high concentration of salt, the goal is to preserve th...

Lacto-Strawberries

This is an experiment in lacto-fermentation, using strawberries with a 2% salt brine created from their own juices.

Malted Oat Amazake

This experiment is a test to see how the enzymes from malt and koji combine to make a hybrid amazake. Traditional amazake made with koji produces glucose, a sugar that is about two-thirds as sweet as...

Malted Oat Milk

In industrial oat milk production, commercial amylase is often used to break down starches for a smoother texture. This experiment is an attempt to use the enzymes naturally present in Light Munich ma...

Soybean Koji "Coffee"

Soybean Koji "Coffee"

This experiment uses the blackening technique on soybeans with koji to create a potential coffee or chocolate substitute. The process involves incubating the soybeans with 10% of their weight in koji...

Tops Garum

Tops Garum

This experiment is an attempt to create a garum, a type of amino sauce, from what would otherwise be a waste product. This version uses carrot greens and koji to produce a savory, fish sauce-style con...

Unripe Peach Cheong Soda

Unripe Peach Cheong Soda

This is an experiment to create a fermented soda using the previously made unripe peach cheong. A portion of the cheong is combined with water and an active carrot bug starter. The goal is to ferment...

Lacto Cherries

This is a simple lacto-fermentation of cherries, using a 2% salt brine. A small amount of water was added to ensure the fruit remained submerged.

Drinks

Drinks

This project is an attempt to make satisfying drinks—sweet, sour, creamy, and more—using only ingredients from the Northeast. We will experiment with fermentation to achieve unique flavors through nat...

Red Cabbage, Apricot, Rye

A puree made from roasted Lacto Apricot, Apple, Mustard, vinegar, and Agar

Sweeteners

Sweeteners

This project is centered on creating sweeteners using solely products from the Northeast. This is a significant challenge, as it excludes traditional sweeteners like cane sugar or sugar beet-derived s...

Umami

Umami

This project focuses on creating umami-rich foods like garums, misos, tamaris, and shoyus using ingredients grown in the Northeast.

Blackened Beets

This experiment explores two variations of blackened beets. Beets are a compelling candidate for this process due to their high sugar content. Much like roasting develops their flavor, blackening may...

Blackened Tomato

This experiment, started on July 22, 2025, documents three variations of blackened tomatoes. The tomatoes are seconds from Maple Bank Farm in Roxbury, Connecticut. Being riper, they contain more sugar...

Malt Garum (Diastatic Light Munich)

Malt Garum (Diastatic Light Munich)

This experiment is an enzymatic ferment using Light Munich Malt (from Valley Malts) and koji (from Rhapsody Foods). The malt is ground to a relatively fine consistency, coarser than flour, to break do...

Malt-Umami

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Oat Malt Garum

Oat Malt Garum

This is a garum using oats, Light Munich Malt from Valley Malt, and Koji. The oats and malt were lightly blended before being combined with the other ingredients and held at a high temperature for an...

Tofu Sheet Krupuk

This recipe is an experiment to create a krupuk-style cracker using tofu sheet. It is inspired by traditional Indonesian krupuk, which is typically made from a gelatinized and dried paste of Tapioca S...

Tempeh

Tempeh

Tempeh is a traditional Indonesian food made from soybeans bound together in the firm mycelium of the mold rhizopus oryzae. Thanks to its fermentation process, it has a nutty, earthy flavor and a dens...

Amazake Pickles

Amazake Pickles

This experiment uses amazake as a sweetener for a pickling liquid, creating an alternative to traditional sugar-based brines. The pickling liquid is a simple mixture of distilled white vinegar, amazak...

Lacto-Amazake

Lacto-Amazake

This experiment is a test using a previously made clarified buckwheat amazake. The amazake was diluted with water and combined with a yogurt starter in a flip-top jar. The goal is to simultaneously la...

Buckwheat Amazake

Buckwheat Amazake

This experiment explores a variation on traditional amazake, a fermented rice drink, by using buckwheat and koji from Rhapsody Foods.

Clarified Amazake

Clarified Amazake

By using freeze clarification, a technique where a frozen substance’s components (which have different melting temperatures) slowly drain through a cheese cloth over a bowl, a cloudy liquid can be tur...

Rye Amazake

Rye Amazake

This experiment focuses on making amazake using rye berries. The process involves boiling the rye berries and then adding dried koji. The mixture will be left overnight in a fermentation chamber, held...

Rye Koji "Coffee"

Rye Koji "Coffee"

This is a test to create alternative coffee and chocolate-like varieties using a combination of koji and slow blackening at 140°F. This approach leverages the similarity between Koji enzymes and the e...

Unripe Peach Cheong

Unripe Peach Cheong

This experiment, started on June 17, is a variation on traditional Korean Cheong, which is typically made with unripe plum. This version uses unripe peaches, another type of stone fruit, to explore if...

Amazake

Amazake

Amazake (甘酒) is a traditional japanese beverage typically made from rice and rice koji. Rice is cooked, cooled, and then mixed with equal parts of koji, by weight, and water. The koji enzymatically br...

Toasted Rye Infused Vinegar

The toasted berries were gently broken up using a mortar and pestle, aiming to create several small chunks from each berry.