In this interview series, HSWT presents startups that are part of the Food Startup Incubator Weihenstephan (FSIWS) . The series presents the companies, their product ideas and how they work.
For founder Adam Mandoki, fermenting food is the “alchemy of cooking.” Black butter, pepper or seasoning sauces – with his product range he wants to offer his customers an absolute taste experience. The name “eleven” from the startup ElevenFerments comes from Hungarian and means “alive”. From this Friday you can find Adam's ferments at the Kraut & Müller stand at the Viktualienmarkt in Munich. Further sales outlets are being planned.
FSIWS: Why did you specialize in fermented foods?
Actually, I have a rather manageable culinary career.
I am a trained event technician. The industry, let's say, chewed me out.
The pandemic gave me the opportunity to reorient myself.
made
my first kombucha This was followed by many books about all sorts of traditional and modern fermentation processes, which I learned from
. So I found myself new in the alchemy of cooking.
Soon I built my first incubator to
make and experiment with koji, tempeh, natto or black garlic.
FSIWS: How important is the aspect of sustainability for your production?
Fermentation is sustainability.
It is a collective natural digestive process, if you will,
that gives far more than it takes.
Almost no waste is created in the production of my ferments.
After making an amino sauce, for example, I dry the solid ingredients
and use them as spices.
SCOBY's can also be eaten in the form of gummy bears, or they can
also be processed into organic leather if there are too many
and you can't give them away.
Furthermore, I see fermentation as a sensible way to reduce
food waste in food production. So many vegetables and fruits
that do not meet the plastic taste of retail could
be transformed into a new product and do not have to be thrown away.
I would also like to do my part to
protect the rainforest of our body: our intestines.
FSIWS: You are on Instagram as a “cookinalchemist”. How did the name come about
?
I see fermentation as the alchemy of cooking.
Cookinalchemist resulted from this. The name with “g” was already taken, but it suits me better that way. Is Funky-er.
FSIWS: What is your personal favorite in your product range at the moment?
Difficult, difficult.
My black butter goes on sale this week.
It's an absolute taste experience.
But the next ferments that I am preparing for sale are not without their own.
Be it the fermented pepper or one of the drinks I'm still working on.
New seasoning sauces are also being developed.
So stay exciting.
FSIWS: What are the individual steps to the finished product?
That pretty much depends on the product.
But in and of itself you can say that I do the least amount of work when fermenting. It
is the countless microbes that accomplish the feat. I only
occasionally mix them together or decide when the time is right for a
ferment to reach its peak. Of course, this process continues afterwards, but
I slow it down by cooling or gentle drying.
For me it is important to only
treat the ferments with high heat in very special cases. So pasteurize. The ferments should
arrive in the stomach as alive as possible.
The name “eleven” comes from Hungarian and means alive.
With this in mind, I would like to pass on my products in this way.
FSIWS: Where can people buy your products?
Starting this Friday with the wonderful Susi at the Kraut & Müller at the
Viktualienmarkt.
Further sales points or pick-up points for the ferments are also being planned, one
of which will be the Restautant Malva on Steinstr. be.
Highly recommended by the way.
*Editor's Note: A SCOBY, a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, is a colony of beneficial bacteria and yeast. In combination with green or black tea and sugar, it starts fermentation. The culture is created when preparing acidic foods and drinks such as “kombucha”.
By: Philipp Schmalhofer
