2024 Fermentation Festival
Workshops
10:45am: Bob Florence
Bob Florence, Owner/Founder, Mystic Koji LLC, Moromi brand
he/him/his
Bio: As a chemist, Bob has had a lifelong passion for creating. Bob left the corporate world to found Moromi and focus on developing unique, hand crafted seasonings including soy sauce, miso, and fermented hot sauces based on traditional fermentation techniques using locally sourced agricultural products. Bob studied the art of shoyu making under the guidance of his mentors at Chiba Shoyu in Japan.
He lives in Mystic, CT with his wife, award-winning author and Moromi partner, Debbi Michiko Florence, their rescue dogs Kiku and Ponyo.
Workshop Title: A Fermentaton Journey
Focus: Bob Florence, owner and founder of Mystic Koji LLC and the Moromi brand of soy sauces, discusses his journey from bench chemist at GE’s corporate R&D labs to working as an executive at GE, Apple, and several VC backed startups to establishing boutique soy sauce brand Moromi at his soy sauce brewery in southeastern Connecticut. He will share an overview of the soy sauce fermentation process and his experiences learning the craft with his mentor at Chiba Shoyu in Japan.
3:30pm: Liana Merk
Liana Merk, PhD Candidate, Harvard Biophysics Graduate Program
she/her/hers
Bio: Liana has been fermenting kombucha since 2016 and enjoys thinking about assembly and succession in microbial communities. She is currently a PhD student studying mobile genetic elements in bacteriophages. Before graduate school, she traveled around Europe and Southeast Asia sampling and sequencing fermented foods.
Workshop Title: Kombucha: The sights, smells, and symbioses within
Focus: Microbes are all around us. Microscopic wars and love stories are playing out in our gut, the soil we step on, the food we eat, and in almost every niche in between. In the lab or during precision fermentation, we seek robustness against perturbation, while in wild ferments, we want environmental conditions to influence texture and taste. Kombucha is somewhere in between. We will learn biology of kombucha and discover the biotechnological and sustainability applications of its microbes.
2024 Festival Vendors
Aya's Culture Kitchen
Bell and Goose
Moromi
Sueños Heirloom Chocolate
Sueños Heirloom Chocolate
Products for sampling: cacao and chocolate (various preparations)
Website: https://www.suenoschocolate.com/
Thirty Acre Farm
FAQ
What can I expect at the festival?
During the AM, lunch, and PM breaks, the following will be available to all attendees in the Northwest Labs basement elevator lobby:
- Informational pamphlets and posters
- Library of fermentation-themed books for perusal
- Local vendors offering fermented food samples
During the AM and PM breaks, there will be 15-minute workshops on soy sauce fermentation and kombucha fermentation, respectively. These will be open to up to 200 attendees on a first-come, first-served basis in a classroom (B103) adjacent to the atrium housing the symposium talks (B100). During the AM break, Bob Florence will discuss his journey in soy sauce fermentation, and during the PM break Liana Merk will discuss the sensory experience and fermentation proccesses in kombucha.
Where can I go to learn more about the science of fermentation?
There are excellent resources for learning more about the interplay of microbes and fermented food products, including textbooks, podcast episodes, and more. We'll have many of these available for browsing at the festival!
As a starting point, we suggest the following asynchronous course through Harvard Online. The course is free to participate, with a fee for a certificate of completion.
Can I purchase food from the vendors?
Each vendor will be offering free samples of their wares. However, their products will not be available for purchase during the festival. If the complimentary tastings leave you hungry for more, most vendors participate in local farmers markets and sell via retailers throughout the greater Boston area. See individual vendor websites for details on how to purchase what you sample!
I have dietary restrictions. Will the samples be safe for me?
There will almost certainly be samples that are safe for you! Major food allergens in the available fermented food products are listed below.
GF = gluten free; V = vegan
Natto (V, GF): soy
Miso (V, GF): soy
Cheese (GF): dairy (milk)
Shoyu (V): soy, wheat
Chocolate (GF, V): no common allergens
Sauerkraut (GF, V): no common allergens
Kimchi (GF, V): no common allergens