Sour Milk: Lacto-Fermentation from Yogurt to Soda

Lacto fermentation is an traditional way to preserve food and stay healthy. In this three-part course you will learn how lactobacillus and its other bacteria friends make some of our favorite foods: yogurt, butter, soda (?! yes) and cheese.
Each class will include history, tradition, and health benefit information as well as hands-on making and recipes to go home with.
\February 13th: Sour Milk -- Creme Fraiche, Mascarpone and Cultured Butter\
Lecture: Why fermentation--history and culture
Demo: creme fraiche; marscapone; cultured butter
Tasting: creme fraiche with berries, marscapone, cultured butter on sour baguette; non-dairy ferments.
Hands on: inoculate cream to make creme fraiche or marscapone
\February 27th: Whey Wonder -- Yogurt, Yogurt Cheese, and Soda\
Demo: yogurt and yogurt cheese; seasonal soda; using whey to ferment the unexpected.
Sample: yogurt cheese and dips, sodas, mustard
Hands on: seasonal herbal soda making
\March 12th: Other Cultures' Cultures -- Kefir and Beyond\
Lecture: Why ferment? The health benefits of bacteria
Demo: kefir; kefir cheese; ginger/turmeric bug
Tasting: fermented food potluck buffet, kefir smoothie, water kefir "lemonade", ginger beer.
Hands on: kefir grains giveaway and starting a ginger/tumeric bug
\Tickets\
We encourage people to sign up for all three classes. We have set a limited number of places, however, for single class attendance at each session.
Per class: $55/$65
Series: $150/$180
\About the instructor\
Nishanga Bliss, MS, L.Ac. has been practicing in the holistic health field for over 20 years. She is an acupuncturist, herbalist, integrative nutritionist, and assistant professor of Chinese medicine at the Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College in Berkeley, California where she grows, cooks, ferments, savors, teaches and writes about sustainable food. Visit her blog at http://gastronicity.blogspot.com. She is the author of the forthcoming book Real Food All Year: Eating Seasonal Whole Foods for Optimal Health and All-Day Energy, to be released in March 2012 by New Harbinger Press.