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2:43 PM October 12, 2022
A Hampstead dietician has invented a tasty approach to encourage individuals to eat probiotics.
Fermenti was first concocted within the kitchen of Marie-Laure Prevost and has simply gained gold medals on the Nourish Meals Awards for gut-friendly and kid-friendly snacks.
The gluten-free and dairy-free treats, made with freeze-dried fermented fruit, additionally gained the meals innovation award for his or her distinctive mixture of lacto-fermentation, expertise and baking.
Belgian-born Marie-Laure, who moved to Hampstead 5 years in the past, skilled the wonders of lacto-fermentation after affected by issues in her twenties.
“I had well being issues after I caught typhus in Mexico and found the entire world of dietetics. I studied vitamin and have become very passionate,” she mentioned.
However she realized that not everybody – together with her husband – was a fan of kefir, kombucha and sauerkraut, which comprise “good micro organism” recognized to enhance intestine well being. So two years in the past, she started experimenting with fermenting fruit, filling her kitchen with colourful jars of effervescent stay cultures.
Marie-Laure Prévost, CEO & Founding father of Fermenti
– Credit score: Courtesy of Fermenti
“I began experimenting with totally different fruits in my kitchen after which rented a kitchen as a result of it was getting too noisy and smelly!” she says.
“As a dietitian I really like wholesome meals and I assist individuals with their intestine well being with a number of fermented greens. He is Italian and wasn’t raised on fermented meals. He mentioned, “Why not strive making one thing tastier with a greater texture as a substitute of grey sauerkraut.”
Whereas fruit regarded “extra appetizing” than cabbage, Marie-Laure additionally needed to make it “extra moveable and handy than sitting in a jar”.
“I thought of drying them so I may put them in a bag, nevertheless it was a problem to maintain the stay cultures alive – they do not like warmth – so we spoke to a microbiologist who makes use of a freeze-drying machine for probiotic dietary supplements. I rented a machine and began taking part in, nevertheless it’s not one thing you discover in cookbooks.”
Argentinian pastry chef Melina Moggia stepped in to develop the flavour of Fermenti’s raspberry and blueberry cookies.
“We obtained the innovation award as a result of we managed to create one thing fully new and mix issues that you simply would not often see in a kitchen. They make wholesome snacks for teenagers as a result of they style good and it is not at all times simple to get them to eat fermented meals or take probiotics.”
Marie-Laure explains why fermented meals are good for intestine well being.
“The microorganisms within the intestine create an ecosystem, however they simply get misplaced due to the way in which we stay: taking medicine, stressing out our lives, or consuming a number of processed meals. Fermented meals assist nurture your complete ecosystem, what scientists are discovering to present the suitable alerts to the immune system and shield the intestinal wall in opposition to pathogens.”
Hampstead mum Laura Sanchez got here on board to assist with the enterprise, which launched on-line two weeks in the past after preliminary testing at festivals and markets. Marie-Laure’s six-year-old daughter and Laura’s seven-year-old twins had been additionally enthusiastic tasters of the cookies, which comprise stay tradition strains in addition to prebiotics and vitamin C.
Marie-Laure Prevost with considered one of her Nourish Awards
– Credit score: Courtesy of Fermenti
The raspberry ones are made with fermented coconut and fruit with a cashew and cocoa butter filling and maple syrup.
“They’re tangy and tangy however well-balanced with the coconut and a really low sugar content material.” says Marie-Laure “Whereas blueberries are sweeter and fewer acidic.”
With a kitchen based mostly at Chalk Farm, they now hope to get the cookies to native shops and delis.
“In the intervening time it is a high-end handmade product, however we’ve to discover a approach to improve and mass produce. There may be nonetheless a good distance and laborious work to promote it in shops and begin to break even, however these awards affirm that we’re on track and that folks respect style and innovation.”
