Hamish was recently pulled tastebuds first into the hottest new fermentation food on the market. Read on to find out why he’s now a fermentphobe converted and thinks Eaten Alive products are a pantry must.
A week or so ago, Entertainment Now was invited to a promotional dinner hosted by ‘Eaten Alive’ founders Pat Bingley and Glyn Gordon. I was quick to say yes.
Both with impressive Michelin star-studded kitchen histories (The Ledbury, L’Enclume, and Fera to name a few), it was an opportunity for a countryside cook to fangirl over some elite kitchenship by top chefs turned entrepreneurs. What wasn’t there to like? The only downside I could see was that their products focused on fermentation…
Don’t get me wrong, a collection that used microorganisms to turn carbs into alcohol and acids was oh so a la mode. Kimchi, sauerkraut, sriracha, kombucha, kefir, and tempeh are just a few products to have burst on to the UK food scene, stinking hip kitchens across the nation.
Whilst cartel air-mile avocados are on their way out and people give up trying to cook (or say) quinoa properly, Technavio estimate a growth in the fermented food market of 689.32 billion pounds between 2023 and 2027 (read more). Perhaps for good reason.
To be clear, fermentation has been here a while. Think booze, salty stir-fry juice, and vegan-unfriendly cracker-toppers. The difference now, new exotic products satisfy that same desire for the eclectic that makes you listen to Mongolian throat singing on Spotify AND they feed your wellbeing.
It turns out your gut has needs as well, and with 90% of your happy hormone serotonin being produced in this spot, they’re quite important (click here). Packed with gut-friendly probiotics (alive bacteria) and other nutritional goodies, it’s no wonder bio-active ferments have consistently topped superfood survey finds for the next big thing (find out more).
Eaten Alive have timed it well. Pat would tell us: “When we started Eaten Alive, everyone I ever met said kim what […]. And in a few years said oh my god kim chi I love it. That evolution highlighted that maybe we backed the right horse.” Backed the right horse indeed.
Since starting up in 2016, the boys now supply Gordon Ramsay, Soho House, Chick n’ Sours and LEON restaurants to name a few, with an ever-increasing number of exciting collaborations on the horizon. All very impressive.
The problem was I couldn’t see the hype. I was a fermented veg ignoramus and self-confessed sceptic, as backwards as my region’s transport system. With a rural West-Country upbringing including little exposure to bioactive ferments, it was a realm of the seemingly sour, soggy and smelly to side-step. What’s wrong with cider apples or beer barley, I complained to my editor as we approached the venue entrance. Why mess with a good thing?
Besides, with a love for similarly probiotic-laden yogurt and a tolerance of sauerkraut for the sake of my Austrian girlfriend, how much did I really need to pay attention to this skyrocketing market anyway? Couldn’t I just ignore it like TikTok and remain blissfully ignorant? Oh how wrong I could be.
We entered a charming Italian restaurant on Goodge street as someone was complaining about a mixed-up vegan pizza order. See technically the yeast means that’s being ‘eaten alive’ mozzarella or no mozzarella, I whispered, let’s just stay here. My cheap joke falling on unimpressed ears, we scaled the stairs to an unexpected demonstration of what I was truly missing out on.
Great atmosphere, company and a gastronomic repertoire nothing short of mind blowing awaited, set from the very start by a margarita with a twist. This favourite of the masses packed familiar notes of sweet, salty and sexy before an unfamiliar spice.
It was fantastic. Achieved with Eaten Alive’s Champagne Citrus XO Hot Sauce, a concoction of champagne, yuzu juice (don’t ask me), pickled citrus fruits, and lemon drop chilli ferments, it was also fermented.
How was this possible? Fermentation meant nuclear fart-scented flavours barely compatible with any given meal. Here was something smart and subtle, something that made sense. Free of the garlic found in most other hot sauces, Champagne Citrus XO’s potential knows no bounds. I’m told it goes well with ice-cream too.
Pat, Glyn and their team were only getting started. A Pollock painting of gastronomic lines and colours ensued with some notable flicks of the brush.
Turmeric-brined khol rabbi, masala chat, preserved lime, and fermented cucumber sauce balanced acidic ferments into a surprisingly smooth, nutty overall profile. The fermented courgette dip with pickled yellow squash, black pepper and almonds told a similar tale of palate over pungency.
In fact, with every course, a fuller picture was painted. Yes fermentation could be loud but it could also be a silent enhancer. It could be bold and domineering or a subtle contributor.
Butter became tangy and flavourful with miso, so did croquettes with kimchi. Potato salad lost its stodge to acidity with a much-welcomed departure from English mayonnaise abuse, and beef just became…better.
Here a cultivated mould known as Koji worked wonders. In the words of Glyn, the organism’s protease broke proteins down into amino acid to turn a ‘***** value steak into a ******** finest steak’.
To even compare the dish to supermarket lines was to criminally understate how sensational that steak really was. Floating in a dish of ponzu, sweating Koji with a dollop of black current mustard on top, fermented bavette truly was la merde. This is a sentiment I don’t just reserve for the umami.
Eaten Alive’s final trick of the evening was to ferment dessert and my brain simultaneously. It turns out 4-year-old apricot preserve sorbet with barley malt sponge, and jellied plums makes a seriously memorable sweet treat. Though ‘sweet’ doesn’t quite do the artful fusion of tangy, sour, and creamy justice. Well played fermentation, well played Eaten Alive.
What was expertly presented that night was that a movement seemingly confined to stinking fridges and nose-held health hits was in fact a supernova of new gastronomic possibilities. It ain’t just reserved for the haute.
Luck would have it that these sorcerers like to share. Eaten Alive products provide all the keys to fermentation exploration for any bold gastronaut willing.
As I chowed down on a smoked-beetroot ‘pkhali’, west-country brother and the owner of Ann’s Pasties, Fergus Muller, told me of a cataclysmic development in my own backyard. His collaboration with Eaten Alive had turned Cornish-Korean with a kimchi pasty for the history books.
A train hop away in central London, Eaten Alive’s fermented lemons have also sat in a GAIL’s Bakery sweet potato, shiitake, cauliflower and lentil patty to devastating effect.
So why not? Befriend your gut and broaden your own meal-plans. I know I’m converted.
Products to try:
Find more on the Eaten Alive website: eatenalive.co.uk
Check out more Entertainment Now lifestyle news, reviews and interviews here
