Differences
This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.
Next revision | Previous revision | ||
os_reader_p1 [2008-11-19 18:46] – created 81.188.78.24 | os_reader_p1 [2008-11-19 18:49] (current) – 81.188.78.24 | ||
---|---|---|---|
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
[[open sauces reader]] p1 | [[open sauces reader]] p1 | ||
+ | |||
+ | ====FermentBrussels: | ||
+ | |||
+ | Wietske Maas and Matteo Pasquinelli | ||
+ | |||
+ | Open Sauces, Brussels - 22 November 2008 | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Zoe seeks sweetness and finds an intensification in it. A further intensification was provided by the making of an intoxicating drink from honey. | ||
+ | — Carl Kerény, Dionysus: An archetypal image of an indestructible life | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | FermentBrussels is a fermented honey concoction based on the recipe of a primordial drink, hydromel: the first alcoholic drink of human kind (the ambrosia of mythology). This brew is remade today from ingredients sourced and scraped from the bowels of Brussels, and in particular from its micoflora (the invisible army of yeasts that makes Belgian beer and bread unique). This aperitif made of the metropolis is also a salute to urbanibalism, | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Urban honey. Honey has been harvested by the most active bee-keeper in Brussels: Marc Wollast. For him setting up hives in public locations is part of a campaign for bio-diversity in urban zones. Two hives are for instance on the Gare du Midi and on the roof of a university. Unlike their fellow country bees, urban bees are able to sup much more nectar from an indiscriminate array of flowers. This honey, sourced from brambles on balconies to dandelions in the cemetery, contains an invisible geography of cross-pollination and is also surprinsinlgy non-polluted since the bees function as natural filters. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Wild yeast. Yeast is an animal of the air. Yeast spores are everywhere. The air of Brussels is home to an intriguing fauna of yeast strains, the Brettanomyces bruxellensis (aka “Brett”). Like any yeast, Brett converts sugars into alcohol and CO2. Its synergy with other local bacteria is what has created the distinctive sour lambic beer. The Cantillon brewery, situated west of the Gare du midi, is one of the few remaining breweries to make this unusual beer using the spontaneous fermentation method. Spontaneous fermentation is done by leaving the beer wort in a big open vat just under the perforated roof of the brewery. This way, the wort is left exposed to the Brussels air until the fermentation begins (7 days or more). Given that a beer wort is comparable to the honey-water mix of hydromel, we decide to use some of the yeast from a bottle of Cantillon lambic, giving us a pre-caught portion of Bruxellensis yeast to inoculate our first batch. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Edible urban plants. Recipes for hydromel were common in medieval times. Piquant plant foliage or roots were used not only to flavour the fermenting honey or for medicinal purposes, but also to activate the yeast. This floric-macerated hydromel is called ‘metheglin’. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Natural fermentation. By way of unexpected serendipity, | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Although the know-how required to confect this urban brew is still in a rudimentary stage of invention, we'd nonetheless like to raise our tasting cups to the coalition | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ===Our indelible thanks to:=== | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Brettanomyces bruxellensis: | ||
+ | * Brasserie Cantillon: | ||
+ | * Sandrine Godefroid: http:// | ||
+ | * Michel Poncé: http:// | ||
+ | * Luv van der Vuyst: | ||
+ | * Marc Wollast et les Abeilles dans sa Ville: | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===Biography: | ||
+ | |||
+ | Living in Amsterdam, Wietske Maas and Matteo Pasquinelli try to experience the city as a materialistic form of life that grows autonomously from any planned 'city ecology' | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ |