Hello everyone and welcome to Madame Ferment website!
My name is Lorène, I am 30 years old, I am the founder of Madame Ferment, and like many of you I am passionate about fermentation! The idea of being able to produce your own food has always fascinated me.
I grew up in the southern countryside of france, surrounded by field of peach and apricot trees’. I spent many days with my grandmother who used to live just below my house. I watched her do everything: on Sundays, I was with her in the kitchen preparing cakes with her. In the summer, I helped her make the cherry and fig jam in her big copper pot and when winter came around, we knitted.
The child that I was was amazed by all her know-how, she grew up at a time when supermarkets did not exist.
From Law studies to traveling around the world
I was a jack-of-all-trades without being interested in any particular area. I’ve decided to pursue law studies which was quite a broad field in France: I’ve learned rigor and precision, but I felt that this path was not mine.
Once I completed my master’s degree in environmental law I decided to travel alone with my backpack in Asia in search of new horizons. I thus discovered other cultures, other ways of thinking, of living and of eating. An encounter in Australia led me to become vegetarian. From that moment on, this new way of eating became obvious to me.
From discovering Tempeh to creating my first company
Two years later, during a trip to Indonesia, a second encounter changed my life: the one with tempeh. This food had nothing to compare with what I had eaten before: the hazelnut taste mingling with a firm and melting texture, its versatility, easy to produce, its incredible level of proteins, minerals and vitamins made me wonder: why is this food not popular in the West?
Once I got back to France, I immediately started cooking tempeh. The first times, although imperfect, were a success. I felt like a child again concocting this preparation and admiring its magnificent process unfolding before my eyes. This is how my first professional experience of tempeh production began with the intention of making this food widely known.
During these three years of almost daily production, I was able to perfect, identify and remedy the difficulties that can arise during fermentation, until I obtained perfect control of the process.
Tempeh, Miso, Kombucha
Then my passion for tempeh followed that of fermentation in general. When I was not in the lab producing tempeh, I was experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen. For instance, vegetable cheeses with all sorts of moulds, from fruit kefir to milk kefir, passing through more specific fermentations such as Natto, soy sauce or even amazake. A great library of ferments was beginning to shape in my home.
The fermentations that have aroused my greatest interest are those that we can easily integrate into our daily diet because they are both simple to cook, cheap, and can be easily integrated into our eating habits.
This is how miso and kombucha caught my attention, they are two fermentations that meet all the following criterias: miso for its powerful role as a condiment and flavor enhancer and kombucha, a sparkling drink that is simple to make, delicious, healthy that can easily replace sodas.
With Madame Ferment, I am delighted to share with you a simple fermentation method as well as local and organic ferments that will allow you to succeed in making your vegetable fermentations at home.
Madame Ferment is based on a fundamental principle of accessibility to quality food. And the advantages of fermentation at home is that it can be made in a small space with only a few beans and a sachet of ferments.
I hope to see you soon on the path to a healthier and more independent diet!