At a recent Fermenti Artisan cooking class, the recipes called for quinoa, raw cocoa nibs and wheat berries — not ingredients you’re likely to find in the average Hoosier pantry.
And the cooking techniques we studied, such as soaking and sprouting grains, nuts and beans, can take up to three days — not exactly fast food.
But Fermenti Artisan owners Mark Cox and Josh Henson have found a receptive audience in Indianapolis. They run a 2-acre farm on the Eastside, selling fermented beverages, sauerkrauts and produce at local farmers markets. They also offer catering services, and they teach cooking classes focused on nutrient-dense diets.
“These are all long-lost arts,” Cox said. “People have skipped these steps for so long that they don’t even know they exist.”
The sprouting and soaking techniques we discussed in my class at Indy’s Kitchen are meant to neutralize phytic acid and other naturally occurring anti-nutrients making foods easier to digest and more nutritious.
Cox started our class with a quick overview in the dining area, which is also home to the Monon Coffee Co.
He and Henson learned about traditional cooking techniques, he told us, through the Weston A. Price Foundation. Founded in 1999, it is based on the research of Weston Price, an Ohio dentist who studied the diets of nonindustrialized cultures in the 1920s and 1930s.
“We were trying to refine the art of cooking, and we found the healing side of it,” said Cox, who now serves as co-president of the Indianapolis chapter.
After the introduction, we headed to the kitchen, where Henson demonstrated simple recipes for almond milk and almond butter, using almonds that had been soaked in advance.
In the next two hours, we also helped prepare oatmeal, bean salad, wheat-berry crackers, a hearty porridge and snack bars — enough for all three daily meals, plus a snack. We had lots of hands-on opportunities, such as rinsing beans and making crackers, and Henson welcomed questions along the way.
When the food was ready, we ate together in the dining room, where Henson and Cox reviewed the nutritional benefits of our meal.
They might be right, because hours later — around the time of my usual midnight snack — I still felt comfortably full.
Going?
Fermenti Artisan classes are held at Indy’s Kitchen, 2442 N. Central Ave. Cost is $50 for one or $75 for two parts of a series. Info: (317) 493-1652 or www.facebook.com/fermentiartisan.
