Fermentation

How to Build to Last

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 18:11:15 GMT

For Arianna Occhipinti, talking about wine is like talking about love.

Both require the right tools to avoid repeated failure. Both have the power to transform obstacles into meaning.

At 22, Arianna started making wine in Sicily's Cerasuolo di Vittoria region. Today her biodynamic methods—wild fermentations, no filtration, cover crops mixing 15+ plants—yield over 120,000 bottles per year. SP68 Rosso, her signature blend, combines native Frappato and Nero d'Avola grapes.

Building her story piece by piece, Arianna shows how individual vision can reshape an entire industry's approach to sustainable winemaking.

S1E2 - Harold McGee & Flavor Illusions

Mon, 14 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Redzepi sits down with Harold McGee, the writer who has done more than anyone else to explain the science of flavor to the world, and the author of On Food and Cooking—a book we can pretty much guarantee all chefs have on their shelf. They discuss pleasure, the flavors that have stuck with them since childhood, and what’s really going on in your brain when you put something in your mouth.

A Waste of Waste | Arielle Johnson, Flavor Scientist

Mon, 08 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT

MAD's former Head of Research speaks about the potentials of fermentation to turn trash into gastronomic treasure.

The Full Cycle of Restaurant Amass

Mon, 08 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT

In this video from our latest MAD Monday, which had “Trash or Treasure” as its theme, the rising star chef Matt Orlando, of Copenhagen’s Amass, discusses how you can create a sustainable ecosystem to feed your restaurant, as well as find delicious flavors in items you would normally throw in the bin.

“I used to think that everything that came out of a greenhouse didn’t taste good,” says Orlando. But his opinion changed as he was figuring out what to do with the expansive plot of land his restaurant sits on. In those early months, he started discovering innovative ways to deal with compost and grow much of the menu’s products right out the front door. As Orlando explains, a clever “worm hotel” is one of the most important engineers of this ecosystem.

The Flavours of Plants

Tue, 07 Apr 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Harold McGee is a world-renowned authority on the chemistry of foods and cooking. He has written two seminal books on kitchen science: On Food and Cooking: the Science and Lore of the Kitchen and the Curious Cook.

He currently writes a regular column for the New York Times, which examines – and often debunks – conventional kitchen wisdom. He also teaches at The French Culinary Institute in New York City.

Before becoming a writer, Harold was a literature and writing instructor at Yale University.

Fermentation Revival

Fri, 13 Feb 2015 00:00:00 GMT

In recent years, there’s been much talk of a fermentation revival going on in kitchens across the globe. From South Carolina to Copenhagen, chefs are creating dedicated spaces in which vinegars, misos, and all types of concoctions can bubble away and transform over time, often yielding unfamiliar and delicious results. But as one of the most referenced figures in the fermentation movement explained at MAD, we should remind ourselves that it’s ancient and essential.

Sandor Katz, the author of 2012’s “The Art of Fermentation,” talks about all the ways we can benefit from the process.