Fermenting Cultures: by the people, for the people!
Fermenting Cultures is a community-led, research project celebrating fermented food and drink of Africa and the African Diaspora. In recent years there has been growing interest in the power of fermented food and drink. African and diasporan ferments rarely feature in these discussions. So, we’re creating an online knowledge bank of ferments from across the diaspora via south London.
Fermenting Cultures is based in the south London boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth. These two boroughs have a shared African and Caribbean population of around 25%, plus the wider diaspora. They represent a wealth of diverse food cultures from as far and wide as Brazil to Senegal and Morocco to Barbados.
We’re connecting with local home cooks, chefs, suppliers, and consumers to learn about traditional (and new) fermented products and practices. We want to find out how well they travel across the diaspora.
Our goal is to raise awareness of our under-documented culinary histories. We want to centre precious food and culture from Africa and the diaspora. And have some delicious fun on the way!
Fermenting Cultures is a project led by Virginia Nimarkoh. She is an artist, social entrepreneur, and fermenter. Through her social enterprise she works to create food equality supporting local people in financial need. She ran Goodness, a small food business making raw chocolate, raw vinegars, and coconut water kefir. She loves all things fermenting.
Kundai Moyo is an artist and cultural practitioner. Her practice is rooted in creating moments of connection between strangers in public spaces. She has spent the last 3 years working closely with community organisations in Lambeth and Southwark on public art and race equity projects. She is the co-founder of wherewithall.co.za (est. 2020).
A massive thank you to everyone that has helped make Fermenting Cultures happen: