Slow Ferments

•The RI.Perspective
Slow Ferments grows out of the meeting between Sandor Katz, one of the most authoritative voices in fermentation worldwide, and Stefania De Leo, chef, fermentation educator and food researcher whose work spans plant-based cuisine, food anthropology and collaborations with high-level dining establishments.
Together they shape a five-day residency in the Valle d’Itria where fermentation is approached as a living practice: a way to observe time, the transformation of ingredients and the relationship between culture, place and matter.
The retreat takes place at Trullo Sant’Angelo, among historic trulli, olive trees and small villages in Puglia, in a setting where local production and seasonality also shape what reaches the table, far from global gastronomic standardisation.
Daily workshops on lacto-fermentations, koji, grains, legumes, fermented drinks and enzymatic transformations alternate with tastings, conversations and shared moments, making room for exchange and shared enquiry. Slowness sets the pace and time becomes central to the experience: there is space to follow, repeat and understand how these practices continue to live.
The programme also includes excursions across the region: from the communal bakery of Altamura, active since 1306 and grounded in the sourdough tradition, to wineries, producers and cheesemaking practices that allow fermentation to be read within the agricultural history of the area.
Listening directly to Sandor Katz, to his knowledge and the way he shares it, allows participants to leave with applicable technical skills and a more precise attention to the work that precedes the result: preparation, waiting, tasting, adjustment.

A retreat by @stefania_deleo_cibo_ancestrale‍ ‍@sandorkraut