A Sunshine Coast company that will get your tastebuds tingling with its fermented food has won a swag of medals at one of Australia’s top gourmet food competitions.
The Fermentier scored gold and silver for its kombucha, kimchi, water kefir and sauerkraut at the Sydney Royal Fine Food Show.
Judges were impressed with the crisp apple kombucha, traditional sauerkraut, and lemon, lime and ginger water kefir which all won gold.
Three of their kombuchas – rich grape, honey jun, and lime and ginger- won silver while the Korean chilli kimchi, garlic sauerkraut, and turmeric and ginger sauerkraut took bronze.
The success comes on the back of the Kunda Park company’s impressive show debut in 2021 when it won three gold medals, three silver medals and one bronze medal.
The Fermentier co-owner Tania Wiesmayr-Freeman said the judges’ verdicts were exciting, especially given the expectations created by last year’s spectacular results.
“It was fabulous because it showed last year wasn’t a fluke and we can produce high-quality, great-tasting products consistently,” Tania said.
“Creating winning products consistently is a challenge because of the variability of the raw materials used and the wet weather earlier in the year.
Because we’re not a big company, and very niche and artisan, the products aren’t exactly the same each time,” Tania said.
“It does depend on the terroir (small variations in factors such as ingredients, weather, and the environment).
For example, cabbages haven’t been the same size and haven’t had as much time in the sun or in the ground this year. This can affect the amount of sugars, antioxidants, and final flavour of sauerkraut.
Fortunately, they are such strongly flavoured products those differences are very minor. But to judges and people who eat it all the time it might be like ‘mmmm’ – they’d know.”
She was especially pleased with the gold medal for their traditional sauerkraut. Taking on board judges’ comments about their bronze medal-winning 2021 entry they made subtle changes to their recipe.
Tania, a university lecturer in nutrition and dietetics, has drawn on her 25 years’ experience promoting health as a clinical dietitian in hospitals and tertiary education, and her love of fine food, to create The Fermentier’s products with husband Andrew Freeman.
The fermentation process for their products involves promoting the growth of certain bacteria and yeasts found naturally on food or in starter cultures, to create high numbers of good micro-organisms and beneficial acids, which enhance the flavour of food and have health benefits.
Tania said fermented foods were recommended by experts as they are likely to improve peoples’ health in several ways including boosting digestive and immune systems, reducing inflammation and supporting mental health.
The Fermentier’s products are available at more than 40 shops on the Sunshine Coast as well as five in Brisbane, and at its Kunda Park shop.
It has tastings at the shop 10am-2pm Saturdays when Tania is happy to talk about the products and what goes into making them.
