Fermentation Cast

Tessa van der Geer and Ivana Mik

Always wanted to start fermenting but were afraid of it? This podcast will get you started. We will build your knowledge from the very basics all the way to futuristic fermentations. Season 1 gets you acquainted, season 2 makes you a master of microbes!

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20 episodes
Avg 33 min
English

Episodes 20

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S2 · E13
June 24 · 31 min
S2E13 (Neuro)spora
[Level: medium] In this episode we speak with Juan Agustín Muños Vildósola, or for friends and family: Tato, about his work at Spora. At Spora, inventions from the Alchemist restaurant are translated to scalable solution. Think cocoa-free chocolate or creating salmon flavours without salmon. We also dive deeper into a very special fungus called Neurospora. If you do not come from Indonesia, this fungus is probably pretty novel for you. It grows on practically anything and produces fruity flavours. Could this be the next big hit after koji? Listen to Tato and decide if you want to work with it ;-)
S2 · E12
May 17 · 35 min
S2E12 Scaling up ferments whilst preserving flavour
[Level: beginner] This week we dive into the joys and pains of running a shop in fermented goodies. Ezio Bertorelli runs Meta Ferments together with his girlfriend Romina Navarro. At Meta Ferments, they produce delicious artisanal ferments like miso, tamari and shio koji. Besides selling mouth-watering fermented goodies, Ezio helps third parties in the development of fermented products. We talk about how he turned from being a Michelin-trained chef to a shop owner, the joys and pains of scaling up a fermentation and how he ensures every ferment remains of super high quality.
S2 · E11
May 5 · 43 min
S2E11 tea through the taste buds of a tea sommelier
[Level: beginner] At Copenhagen’s two star restaurant The Alchemist, tea is sometimes an ingredient in a recipe. However, primarily it stands as a beverage on its own. Tea sommelier Sarah Rosady develops a rich array of alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks, to accompany a great meal, excellent service and an evening filling experience that goes way beyond dining. My genius colleague food scientist Rebecca Rocchi and I talk to Sarah about the many ways she accomplishes this. Fall in love with tea and how its leaves transform before drying and after fermentation.
S2 · E10
April 21 · 30 min
S2E10 turning waste into value using enzymes and koji
[Level: medium] Our modern food system is efficient, but creates a gigantic amount of food waste. Carrot tops, animal carcasses and even invasive species in our sea waters. REDUCED is a company that turns these waste streams into tasty broths that can be used to spice up any dish. In this episode we speak with their interim Head of R&D Rebecca Rocchi. Using koji ánd industrial enzymes, she efficiently extracts flavour from underutilised ingredients. With her PhD in food fermentation she can clearly explain the science behind the process and how it enhances flavour by elaborating on umami, kokumi and other sexy compounds generated by fermentation.
S2 · E9
April 21 · 25 min
S2E9 when sourdough and koji meet
[Level: medium] What happens when the world’s most sexy ferments make a baby? In the episode we explain how to make a sourdough starter that has koji added to it. The enzymatic power of koji creates a bread with a texture, taste and softness that you would not expect from a sourdough. And for those still nervous about making koji, you can use store bought koji too. ;-) This episode is (for now) the last episode of the koji mini collection made together with Maxene Graze from the Koji Collection Substack. Like the podcast? Buy me a coffee!buymeacoffee.com/Fermentationcast
S2 · E8
March 14 · 24 min
S2E8 magical amazakes and how to make them
[Level: medium] A lot of the more famous koji ferments require a lot of time: soy sauce, miso, sake. It goes from weeks to even months. In this episode we discuss an application that can be finished within a day, even within only 2 hours if you use our extra special trick. We are talking about: amazake! We dive into how to make this sweet and delicious drink and tell you how to make unorthodox amazake from chestnuts and even potatoes. This episode is another co-production with Maxene Graze from the Koji Collection Substack. Like the podcast? Support us and buy me us a coffee!
S2 · E7
March 4 · 25 min
S2E7 different koji strains and how to use them
[Level: medium] In the West, we often speak about koji as if it is one single thing, and as if it is just what you add to a miso to start the fermentation. In reality, koji has a much wider meaning. During this episode we discuss what is encompassed when we talk about koji. Koji also comes in many different forms, potencies and flavours. We will take you through the different types of koji spores that you can procure and will help you a hand with choosing the perfect spore for your next funky fermentation. This episode is another co-production with Maxene Graze from the Koji Collection Substack. Like the podcast? Support us and buy me us a coffee!
S2 · E6
February 15 · 36 min
S2E6 recognising good and bad koji
[Level: medium] The next batch of episodes are all about koji. The first we dive deeper into the making process, which we briefly touched upon in season 1. There’s a lot more to this fluffy friend than a simple growth of 2 days! We discuss growth phases, how to recognise where you are in the process, koji-styles and how to judge the quality of your koji. The episodes end with a beautiful sonification of the growth process. The Koji-episodes are recorded with our guest co-host Maxene Graze; author of the Koji Collection substack. She translates articles about koji from Japanese to English, to help broaden everyone’s knowledge about this fungus. To read the article on which this episode was based and see illustrations of the different types of koji, go to https://thekojicollection.substack.com/p/visuals-of-koji. We'd also like to invite our listeners to share pictures of koji they made: good and bad. Once we have a proper collection, we will make a post containing all these pictures to help you recognise all different forms, succeses and failures. Like the podcast? Buy me a coffee!buymeacoffee.com/Fermentationcast
S2 · E5
February 1 · 39 min
S2E5 how different rennets affect cheese fermentations
[Level: Expert] Disrespectfully speaking ;-) , you might call our last guest of the Bolzano episodes a high brow milkman. Alan Kelly is a professor specialised in the science of milk. He sees milk as a liquid that wants to be a solid. Like a box of Lego, that depending on how the pieces are put together results in a different product. Rennet is the basic denominator in how the milk changes texture and taste in the early stages of fermentation. Learn how different rennets affect the quality of the final cheese and become a better cheese maker yourself. Like the show? Buy me a coffee!
S3 · E4
January 18 · 18 min
S2E4 taming wild yeasts
[Level: Advanced] Our next interviewee has something to be envious about: a collection of micro-organisms isolated from fermented foods. At the University of Ljublana Neža Čadež works on using this collection for all kinds of new fermented foods. In Bolzano she presented the results of a project aimed at making gluten free beer from buckwheat, a grain that when used with a regular beer yeast doesn’t make for a very tasty beer. In the Slovenian mountains, the team isolated rare yeast strains from spontaneously fermented ciders and selected one that performed best on buckwheat. Then, they improved it so it better utilizes maltose, the sugar mainly found in wort. Hear what Neža has to say about how they managed to do so. Spoiler: don’t carelessly play with this at home, and always keep an eye out for proper pH values. Like our show? Buy us a coffee?
S2 · E3
January 3 · 24 min
S2E3 co-fermenting fungi for better tempeh
[Level: Advanced] This is our second report from the International Conference on Fermented Foods in Bolzano. Oscar Boronat Nielsen, a fermentation scientist and huge foodie, explains us how he combines starters for tempeh and soy sauce to create a new style of tempeh with more umami and more flavour. And the most fun part? You can quite easily try this at home! Learn how to time the addition of each fungus, how the prepare the soy beans and in which conditions you should ferment this fluffy creation. Like our show? Buy us a coffee!
S2 · E2
Dec 20, 2025 · 30 min
S2E2 the future of fermented foods
[Level: Advanced] This is the first episode of four covering Ivana's visit to the International Conference on Fermented Foods in Bolzano, where four interviews took place with fermentation SUPER specialists. The first conversation is with Emanuele Zannini. He is both a professor in food science at University La Sapienza in Rome and a research professor at UCC University College in Cork, Ireland. Emanuele Zannini talks about how we can use A.I. to create the foods of tomorrow using traditional fermentation, how fermentation allows him to interact with the intelligence of microbes and reveals his favourite sidestream (cause who doesn't have one?). Like our show? Buy us a coffee!
S2 · E1
Dec 5, 2025 · 30 min
S2E1 beetroot special
[Level: Beginner] Welcome to the first episode of season 2 of the Fermentation Cast! This season, we build on our knowledge obtained in the first season. We step away from the fermentation tree and invite guests from all over the world to talk about how théy ferment. They give us tips and tricks that you can apply directly into practise. This episode is a special one and evolves entirely around beetroots. Ivana became an ambassador of this sturdy vegetable together with a group of other food professionals. We call ourselves the "Bietenclub", the Beetroot Club. We put this vegetable in the spotlight at the start of winter and hopefully in time for you to put some fermented beetroots on your Christmas table. Time to see if you remember about all the different types fermentations! Like our show? Buy us a coffee!
S1 · E17
May 16, 2025 · 58 min
S1E17 David Zilber
[Level: Beginner] If you are a fermenter, you probably own a copy of the Noma Guide to Fermentation. For our season finale Ivana drove over to Copenhagen for a one hour interview with the writer of this book and thé O.G. master of fermentation David Zilber. In his funky fermentation lab where he works on innovative applications of microbes for Novonesis, they speak about their brief shared history at Noma, his life as a food scientist now and they reflect on the first season of the fermentation cast combining his personal anecdotes with our fermentation tree. Stay tuned till the end to discover how you too can became a true fermentation fairy. Like the show? Buy me a coffee!
S1 · E16
May 2, 2025 · 25 min
S1E16 vanilla
[Level: Intermediate] Did you actually know vanilla is fermented? And not by a very common microbe! It is Bacillus that gives that oomph, making vanilla one of the most popular flavours in the world. In this episode we dive deeper into how vanilla is produced and what role Bacillus plays in that production. We introduce the last category of the fermentation tree and hope to spark your enthusiasm for this funky friend. Like our show? Buy us a coffee!
S1 · E15
Apr 18, 2025 · 36 min
S1E15 tempeh
[Level: Intermediate] Tempeh is a fermented food from Indonesia that consists of soy beans grown together by the mold Rhizopus oligosporus. That in itself is a delicious food, but there are many more applications that can be made using this fungus. In our transition to a more plant-based world, it makes sense to first explore what we already have on hands. Listen to this episode and learn how to tame this fluffy friend. Like our show? Buy us a coffee!
S1 · E14
Apr 4, 2025 · 20 min
S1E14 futuristic ferments at Expo West
[Level: Advanced] Ivana visited Expo West in Los Angeles to explore the alternative protein market. There, she found multiple companies that use fermentation to save our future food supplies. This episode is a teaser for what we want to report on in a future season: a deep dive into the vast array of possibilities when it comes to fermentation. And... we dare you to try these fermentations at home ;-) Like our show? Buy us a coffee!
S1 · E13
Mar 21, 2025 · 46 min
S1E13 shoyu
[Level: Intermediate] Shoyu - a delight that lifts every dish from mediocre to next level. How is it made, how can you make it from other ingredients than soy beans and can Dutchies make a Japanese-approved shoyu IN The Netherlands ? During this episode we unveil the secrets of soy sauce and visit Dutch soy sauce makers from Tomasu in Rotterdam - who have (believe it or not) fallen in love with this umami flavourmaker... Like our show? Buy us a coffee!
S1 · E12
Mar 7, 2025 · 46 min
S1E12 miso - special!
[Level: Intermediate] This episode is a little different than our usual episodes. For our last edition of the Blub Club fermentation club in Amsterdam, we decided to record a live episode with our club members. We were joined by Saki Morita: a Japanese home fermenter that tells us all about the challenges and possibilities of making miso at home. Build on your koji knowledge from our previous episode and apply it in miso! How to make it, how to play with the flavour and also, how to cook with it. Like our show? Buy us a coffee!
S1 · E11
Feb 21, 2025 · 36 min
S1E11 koji
[Level: Intermediate] Aspergillus oryzae... This magical mould has hundreds of applications that are being uncovered one by one by creative fermenters all over the world. Before yóu start kojifying everything, you might want to get to know this bug a little better: who are you? How do I work with you? What do you need to be happy? And why can I eat you, but can't I eat some of your other fuzzy friends? Like the show? Buy us a coffee!

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