The story behind Edible Alchemy
When Edible Alchemy was founded in Canada in 2012 we could not know the ensuing success story of microbes and the human microbiome. We were still in the era of hand sanitizer, plentiful use of antibiotics and general bacterial eww. The vast majority of people considered deliberately creating living food – using bacteria, yeast, or, heaven forbid!, spores – just as mad as the original alchemists’ endeavour of trying to make gold from dirt.
On Becoming Alchemists
Why then did we see ourselves as alchemists in the first place? Short answer: transformation. Transformation through fermentation! We were and are alchemists in the sense that we turn simple, inexpensive ingredients into valuable, probiotic, complexly tasting ferments. And unlike the alchemists of old, we succeed (almost) every time! We create natural umami, the gold of high cuisine.
Edible Alchemy in Berlin
Edible Alchemy’s journey with fermentation has been, just like bacteria and yeasts, ever changing, forming, proliferating and expanding. In 2014 Alexis took the philosophy of Edible Alchemy and many microbial pets to Berlin to open up the first Probiotic Bacteria Bar. Her goal: to spread the word of good bacteria and good microbes in general. Because the majority of microbes is beneficial not harmful to us and we need to team up with the good guys in order to fight the bad guys!
In Berlin, Alexis has collaborated with other like-minded thinkers, makers and doers. While the original philosophy of Edible Alchemy remained intact, the new unions have resulted in several additions.
A Focus on Fermented Foods
First, we have become more focussed on the edible aspect of the brand. Fermented foods are the third dimension in culinary composition. With raw and cooked ingredients, meals are not one-, but, well, two-dimensional. Constant fusion experiments with all three layers gave rise to one of our more recent formats, the 52 Seasons Dinner.
Inherently Sustainable & Extraordinarily Tasty
Second, we have become more ecological. Fermentation means energy-efficient food preservation. Regional, seasonal agricultural produce as well as foraged foods can be enjoyed year round without refrigeration or chemical preservatives. In addition, fermented components add not only complex flavours but also very often provide umami tastes without having to resort to meat. Two of many ways in which fermentation reduces your CO2 footprint!
Healthier Diets, Healthier Guts
Third, we aim for the holistic unification of culinary pleasure, sustainable food, and your personal gut health. Because fermentation breaks down plant proteins to make them more digestible and several nutrients more bioavailable, Edible Alchemy helps to make vegan and vegetarian diets tastier and healthier. In fact, any diet.
Coincidentally, our love of food transformation and experimentation as well as our interest and understanding of how food works in our bodies has been one of the recent sociocultural trends. Bacteria Girl or Bacteria Dealer hasn’t always been the most attractive of nicknames, but we have seized the opportunity to spread our – at the time – strange news about bacteria and a healthy microbiome. Also, in the last few years fermentation has gained popularity in the culinary scene with the advent of the Nordic Food revolution. Most importantly, we have been avoiding food waste for years, and fermenting regional and seasonal produce for a minimal CO2 footprint; before sustainability was a buzzword and before the term ‘climavore’ was born. Edible Alchemy is honoured to have been a part of it.
What’s Bubbling Up Next
Hindsight is 20/20 you say? We heartily welcome you to have a chat with us about „what is next?“ in the world of edible alchemy lowercase, with Edible Alchemy at the vanguard, in the Academy, at one of our Bacteria Bars or live after a workshop.
The People Behind Edible Alchemy
ALEXIS
Hailing from Winnipeg, Canada, Alexis co-founded Edible Alchemy with Natalie back in 2012. Her adventurous spirit has carried her around the globe countless times. After bouts in Mozambique, Japan and Iceland, to name a few, a healthy combination of chance and choice brought her to Berlin.
Since 2014, Alexis has poured most of her time and love into experimenting with and expanding her business as a modern day alchemist and certified herbalist. She is constantly working to evolve her fermentation and foraging offerings in classrooms, festivals, kitchens, farmers’ markets, urban gardens, parks, rooftops and creative spaces.
ALEXIS
Hailing from Winnipeg, Canada, Alexis co-founded Edible Alchemy with Natalie back in 2012. Her adventurous spirit has carried her around the globe countless times. After bouts in Mozambique, Japan and Iceland, to name a few, a healthy combination of chance and choice brought her to Berlin.
Since 2014, Alexis has poured most of her time and love into experimenting with and expanding her business as a modern day alchemist and certified herbalist. She is constantly working to evolve her fermentation and foraging offerings in classrooms, festivals, kitchens, farmers’ markets, urban gardens, parks, rooftops and creative spaces.
Current co-ALCHEMISTS
Laura
Laura has built her life around working with her hands. Before coming to Berlin she studied sculpture in Belgium and spent some time travelling around doing construction, learning to build stone walls and lay wooden floors. She was also very active in the DIY scene of Belgium, co-founding the experimental theatre collective Hotub.
During this time she started working various fermentation projects into her home cooking. Initially intrigued by the health benefits, she began diving deeper and exploring the beauty and flavours of fermentation. You can find her in the lab doing experiments, helping out the workshop hosts and sending out orders for the online shop.
Poppy
Poppy grew up in an idyllic bit of the English countryside that looks a lot like the Shire, so foraged food was part of every day life from her earliest years. Nowadays she is working on qualifications as a mushroom and wild plant expert, and is sharing her twelve years of baking experience at Edible Alchemy's sourdough workshops.
When she's not cooking, eating, or looking for things to eat, she's playing the guitar, the cello and the piano in her other day job as a music pedagogue, though not all at the same time.
Flo
Florencia is a creative and curious soul dedicated to plant-based cooking with a focus on holistic health, which has led her to explore various culinary methods to enhance both the flavor and properties of foods, such as experimenting with fermentation in its many forms.
She can be found doing workshops and events under her project OHNE, where she shares knowledge and practices around nutritious cooking, self-care habits, seasonality and ancient wisdom, seeking to create community and greater connection with nature inside and outside of us.
Julie
Raised in a German household in France, tackled food waste in Montreal and spent the last two years immersed in the Marseille food scene. Julie is full-of-energy and always up for a new adventure.Her love for food began early, experimenting in the kitchen with her brother that unknowingly set her on the path to fermentation. What started as curiosity is now her creative playground.When she’s not experimenting in the lab with Laura or hosting workshops, you’ll find Julie trekking mountains with a tent on her back, sipping a Ricard on a sunny Marseille terrace or looking for any excuse to dance.
Maia
Fermentation enthusiast, permaculture advocate, and culture crafter. After attending a sourdough workshop with Alexis in Berlin in 2015, she fell in love with the wild and wonderful world of ferments and fizz. Maia started writing and editing content for Edible Alchemy in 2020. Eager to hone her culinary craft, she apprenticed in their lab in 2022. Today, she considers herself an avid gut gardener, teaching fermentation workshops through a permacultural lens.
PAST Co-ALCHEMISTS
Jonas
Jonas infused Edible Alchemy with their enthusiasm for cultures and endless thirst for knowledge, rounded off with spritzers of their zesty German culture, from 2018 – 2022.
Along with the Microbial Circus, Jonas has worked as an English, Geography and Drama teacher at a gymnasium (i.e. “high school” not “gym”) in Berlin. They considers themself a humanist, ecologist and holistic scientist at heart. We love them for their profound philosophical thought processes and big picture approach to all of Edible Alchemy’s endeavours.
Natalie
Natalie’s curiosity and travels to learn about sustainable agriculture lead her to discover fermentation. Enchanted by these ancient practices, in winter 2012, she co-founded Edible Alchemy in her home of Treaty 1 territory in Canada.
Today, Natalie lives on the rugged coast of Haida Gwaii, the unceded islands and waters of the Haida territory off the northwest coast of so-called Canada. Here she continues to make food magic whether it is selling bulk dry goods and ferments through her project Ruddy Cellar, cooking in remote bush camps, managing gardens at the local women’s shelter or by remediating soils that have been contaminated by heavy industry to support regenerative ecological systems.
She continues to share her passion and knowledge for wild and fermented foods with Edible Alchemy.
Olga
In 2014, Olga Graf began her journey as a home baker, immersing herself in the world of sourdough. By 2021, she co-founded KornLabor (Grain Lab), focusing on transforming the grain supply chain in the Berlin-Brandenburg region with a passion for grain diversity. In 2022, she expanded her impact with Bake for Ukraine, a fundraising initiative supporting Ukrainian grain farmers and bakers during wartime.
Beyond her entrepreneurial endeavours, Olga shares her sourdough expertise with home bakers through teaching. Furthermore, she researches Slavic baking culture, deepening her commitment to the culinary arts. In her main job, she manages food policy programs in Brandenburg and Saxony.
Edible Alchemy ONLINE Academy
When we launched Edible Alchemy, there were many visions for what it could become. Overall, our mission to engage with people about fermentation, wherever we can, turned us into ‘culture dealers’, ‘bacteria baristas’, workshop facilitators, edutainers (educational entertainers) and has even lead to the development of our online fermentation course to spread the bacterial knowledge worldwide.
This online academy allows you to access the world of fermentation through video tutorials, PDFs and creative recipes on your own time in the comfort of your own home. Once signed up for a course, you will see that more recipes and skills will be added to the curriculum so your fermentation skills can proliferate and develop. Join our online community of alchemists from around the world!
Edible Alchemy CoLaboratory
Edible Alchemy CoLaboratory is the umbrella of all of our active social platforms that empower members to share knowledge and feedback with us and one another. The aim: to promote healthy lifestyles, food skills and creative experimentation through fermentation and community sharing.
We would love to have you apart of our community! Sign up for our newsletters, contribute a recipe, join a workshop, take an online course or check out our Instagram!
