World Ferment Day – Debrief with Jo Webster
World Ferment Day took place on February 1st this year. Billed as a global celebration that turns theory into practice, people were invited to taste a ferment, make a ferment, share a ferment or host a ferment event. Organizer Jo Webster was supported by The Fermentation School , Wildbrine , and The Fermentation School en español . Goodfellows Restaurant in Jo’s home town of Wells, Somerset, hosted two 15-person sold-out sittings of a ‘Cultured Lunch’ by chef Adam Fellows. Jo and her friend Caroline Gilmartin helped prepare the dishes. The Cultured Lunch constituted two back to back sell-out sittings in Adam’s delightful restaurant. The aim was to showcase how ferments meld deliciously as part of tasty meals, bringing complexity and diversity to the table. Whether it was in the form of my fermentceutical crackers, loaded with labneh and Jerusalem artichoke ferment, or the Fennel Blush ferment and Cultjar ‘s Cooks Kowl sauerkraut tucked under the duo of organic salmon, the results were extremely popular. My Rosemary sourdough went down a storm and so did Caroline’s mango kefir ice cream, with Fermenti ’s enlivening fermented fruit bites to augment it. Caroline showed attendees how to make milk kefir and explained how those first milk kefir grains were snaffled out of the Caucasus region by subterfuge for the benefit of so many nations thereafter. I waxed lyrical about my beloved vegetable ferments and forgot to roll the sleeves of my white shirt up before grating the beetroot. People went home inspired, excited and satiated. My favourite feedback was from a gentleman who candidly said that his wife had twisted his arm to get him to attend with her. “I thought it was going to be shit”, he said. I assumed World Ferment Day was just aimed at making money rather than genuinely aiming to make lives better by encouraging more people to eat and drink more ferments. In fact, this has been an inspiring afternoon and I am so glad that I came”. Challenges Jo acknowledges that fermented foods and drinks are still a niche. This is part of the challenge. While there’s more producers coming into the market, I still think it’s a pretty hard market to be in. For many, it has been a pretty lonely and isolating market to be in for quite a long time for quite a few people. And that is gradually changing for sure. And there’s definitely more players coming into the market. Some are ramping up production and it seems like something is shifting. Statistics 17 countries 70+ events 400 people signed up to the ferment pledge 5000+ people viewing the global map 786 Instagram followers This marked a sizable increase from the first World Ferment Day where there were only 10 events. There was very little planning for 2025. I thought of the idea at the beginning of January and we held it at the beginning of February. It was very low key. This time we’ve had a year, but various things have happened to distract me. We had a good three month run up, but this time we’re going to have a full year run up. Global Response Tomorrow, some of us will step into a communal kitchen for a cooking session guided by Food Citizen’s regular volunteer and partner, Deepa. Among other foods, we’ll be making idli — a fermented dish common in many South Indian homes and available in Singapore at stalls and restaurants. Food Citizen, Singapore I created this ebook to celebrate World Ferment Day. Fermentation is an art, a way to connect with our ancestry and, at the same time, a contemporary path to create new possibilities in the kitchen. Inside this ebook, you will find 5 very special recipes, carefully tested and developed by me over the years. Nomad Food Lab, São Bernardino, Portugal Celebrating World Fermentation Day by making my granny’s favourite ferment: sauerkraut. My love of preserving stems from my granny, Ima Mae (in the photo, which lives in my kitchen) who always had homemade pickles (including kraut) on the table, all made with veg grown by my granddad. Rachel d