TINKERING WITH MICROBES,GUTS AND STUFF: GO OUT AND PLAY WITH FOOD

OR FOOD “HACKING”?

Squat&Grow

• Metabolic process that converts sugar to acids, gases or alcohol"

• Converting juice into wine, grains into beer etc."

• Wine, beer, chocolate, cacao, bread, tea, yogurt, kefir cheese, kimchi, tempeh, tofu, dosa, soy sauce, salami, kombucha…."

• Core: starter cultures (“starters”) –microbial cultures promoting the fermenting process"

• Whey, salt, freeze-dried cultures, re-used brine…."

• Self-reproduction! Hyperactivity!"""

Fermentation

• 7000–6600 BC"• Louis Pasteur (1850s/1860s) "• Urban revival of DIY home fermentation"• Fermentation communities all over the world"• Sandor Katz - “Wild Fermentation”""

Traditional art and science

"• Health & pampering of guts

with probiotics"• Taste, aroma, texture "• Joy of tinkering"• Budget"• Easy food preservation"• Going back to the roots"• Community, friends"• Alternative to mass-

produced industrial food "• Sustainability, locavorism,

low energy requirement

Why all that?

Fermenting Community in Singapore through Internet of Microbes

Fermentation Bank: Microbial Blockchain

• Food swaps"• Sharing economy"• P2P transactions"• Starters as crypto

currency"• KrautSourcing"• …it’s a fridge…""""""

Online Map of Fermentation Starters: Microbial Swarming

GutHub Facebook Group: Online Troubleshooting

—> Facebook/Fermentation GutHub <—"""

Mother 0.1: DIY Incubator to Keep the Microbes Cool

Future Hookups"

• Monthly Meetups @ hackerspace.sg"• Next big things: The GutHub Github / Stop slacking and start fermenting""""""

What we need:"• mason jars"• some food we find

around"• starter (salt brine)"• fondness for

microbes"• patience"

And now pickling… Howto:"• salt brine:"• 4 liter jar - 6 tbl spoons salt

(keep calm and use eyeball statistics)"

• Cabbage leaf to cover

And then:"• timeframe: 1-4 weeks"• temperature differences"• check everyday:

let it burp stirtake out mould"

""""""