Fermented foods have been a cornerstone of human diets for thousands of years, but modern science is only beginning to uncover just how powerful they are for our health. In this talk, Maureen will explore how the ancient practice of fermentation transforms ordinary ingredients into nutritional powerhouses — and what that means for your gut, your immune system, and your overall wellbeing.

Whether you're a fermentation enthusiast, a curious foodie, or someone looking to take charge of your digestive health, this talk will give you practical, evidence-based insights to help you make the most of fermented foods in your everyday diet.

Maureen is a GI Registered Dietitian with a private practice based in Medway, MA specializing in gut health and GI disorders. Beyond the clinic, she channels her passion for nourishment into her work as a private chef, curating wholesome, intentional menus for events and wellness retreats — because she believes the most powerful medicine is a well-prepared plate.

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Pickling in Practice

Rebecca Echevarria, Of the Air

12:15PM - 1:00PM, Armory Cafe

Curious about how to make pickles through fermentation? Join Rebecca Echevarria for a discussion on how to make fermented pickles using a wet brine, dry brine, and pickling "bed" (an immersion of vegetables in different mediums). We will also touch on the histories associated with these techniques as well as diverse pickling recipes from around the world. Participants will be able to explore a range of curated texts, browse a small fermentation library, take home a bespoke recipe card, and watch a pickling demonstration.

Rebecca Echevarria is an artist and public scholar based in the Hudson Valley who is interested in the creative possibilities of food preservation, particularly fermentation. Her practice is rooted in place and sociality. She researches local and global food histories, explores the communal nature of food preservation, and integrates her own experiences and familial pasts into her projects. Currently, she teaches in public libraries, screenprints t-shirts with designs inspired by her cookbook collection, curates pop-ups, co-organizes fermentation gatherings, and hosts Meant to Ferment, one of the only fermentation-focused public radio programs in the country.

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Fungi Futures: The Transformative Role of Mushrooms in Flavor, Fermentation, and Forests

James Davis, Bay Staters for Creative Well-Being

1:15PM - 2:00PM, Armory Cafe

While enjoying tasty mushroom treats, we will collaboratively learn how mushrooms are transforming nutrition and environmental technology. We will demystify how mycelium, our planet’s neural network that fruits mushrooms, created life on our planet and sustains us even today. We will explore how cultures around the world are embracing mushrooms and fermentation to live long, healthful lives. With hands-on activities, we will learn how mushroom technologies like mycocrete are creating a habitable future for us all. Perfect for beginners and advanced learners alike, this talk will make complex principles accessible.

James is a muralist, musician, and mushroom foraging instructor, organizing community campaigns to bring people together in nature. As the founder of Bay Staters for Creative Well-Being, he has shepherded the passage of over 30 laws restoring community access to medicines like psilocybin mushrooms, improving the sustainability of city food purchases, expanding labor rights, and protecting animals. His background is bridging ecology and public policy, having worked as a legislative specialist for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, Berkeley (CA), and Taizhong Taiwan. For fun, he loves board games, movies, languages, and petting other people's dogs. He's originally from Kansas, and he lives part-time in Chile to avoid New England winters.

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Keeping Fermentation Alive: Principles from Kitchen to Scale

Meaghan & Shane Carpenter, Hex Ferments

2:15PM - 3:15PM, Armory Cafe

What happens when traditional fermentation meets a modern food system built for consistency, speed, and shelf stability?

Join the founders of HEX Ferments for a live kraut-making demonstration and an exploration of what it takes to produce truly living fermented foods at scale while staying rooted in traditional methods. Through stories from production, practical insights for home fermenters, and a guided tasting, this session examines the principles that matter most in fermentation—from ingredient quality and microbial ecosystems to patience, variability, and trust in the process.

Meaghan and Shane Carpenter are the co-founders of HEX Ferments, a Baltimore-based fermentation company producing raw sauerkrauts, kimchis, pickles, and kombucha using locally sourced ingredients. What began as home fermentation projects, food preservation classes, and a shared interest in art, agriculture, and traditional foodways grew into Baltimore's first licensed producer of traditionally fermented foods. Since 2013, HEX Ferments has earned multiple Good Food Awards and recognition from Slow Food International for preserving authentic fermentation practices. Today, through HEX Ferments, HEX Superette, educational workshops, and partnerships with regional farms, they are dedicated to keeping living food traditions alive and accessible to more people.

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PANEL DISCUSSION: Sourdough Baking Summit
Andrew Janjigian, Wordloaf (moderator)

Panelists: Jason Bond (Bondir), Daisy Chow (Breadboard Bakery), Dana Gilmore (CSCA Cafe), and Ayham Haddad (Mahalab Bakery)

3:30PM - 4:30PM, Armory Cafe

A panel discussion and Q&A featuring some of the Boston-area's best sourdough bakers chatting about the work they do, their approaches to sourdough fermentation, and bread baking. Come learn the secrets to successful sourdough baking (at home or in a professional setting) and have all of your burning sourdough baking questions answered by an expert.

Andrew Janjigian is the head baker at the IACP-nominated Wordloaf newsletter, the author of The Bread Baker’s Pocket Companion (self-published) and Breaducation (November 2026, Ten Speed Press), and the inventor of the sourdough starter whisk. He was a test cook, editor, and resident breadhead at America’s Test Kitchen for more than ten years, and has since written recipes and essays on bread baking for Serious Eats, King Arthur Baking Company, Epicurious, The Perfect Loaf, ChefSteps, Edible Boston, and more. Find him at @wordloaf at all the usual places, or at newsletter.wordloaf.org and breaducation.org.

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Don’t Pour That Out!
Hunter Elson, Hex Superette

12:30PM - 1:30PM, Parma Chai Gallery (room B6)

Fermented brine often gets discarded. But what would it look like to take it seriously as an ingredient? This guided, non-alcoholic tasting introduces a shift in perspective: brine not as a byproduct, but as a serious ingredient with a second life behind the bar. For fermenters and mixologists alike, we'll follow a single brine on a journey showcasing the range of what it can become.

Hunter Elson runs the bar program at HEX Superette in Baltimore. He has led bar programs in the city for the past four years. At Foraged, curating a hyperseasonal, ever-shifting cocktail menu first drew him to combining live ferments with mixed drinks. At HEX, that interest focused in on brine's overlooked potential behind the bar. He approaches mixed drinks with equal parts science and creativity: alchemy.

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New England Winemaking: From Vineyard to Glass (21+)
Eliot Martin, Marzae Wine

2:00PM - 3:00PM, Parma Chai Gallery (room B6)

Join Eliot in learning about the unique growing conditions, grapes, and approaches to fermentation and cellaring that make New England an exciting emerging wine region as we taste through several Marzae wines.

Note: Each participant will receive the equivalent of 2 glasses of wine.

Eliot Martin & Katie Luczai founded Marzae with the goal of building community around quality, sustainable, local wine production to Massachusetts, building on the natural wine movement igniting new interest in under-appreciate wine wine regions. Eliot brings together the best grapes (and other fruit/botanicals) from across the Northeast to craft unique minimum intervention wines, ciders, co-ferments, and aperitifs that reflect our local terroir. In its third year, Marzae has taken over management of an abandoned vineyard, planted the state's first regeneratively farmed vineyard, and opened a tasting room/restaurant/retail concept at Boston Public Market over the past few months.

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Thank you to our 2025 speakers for sharing their knowledge with the community.

All talks were recorded and are available for free below.

2026 Speaker & Tasting Series

Speaker Series

Tasting Series

Somerville Fermentation Festival