From Kitchen to Craft, A Natural Foods Journey

Ken Emmer

My journey into traditional fermentation and whole foods began in 1972, when I lived with Michio and Aveline Kushi at their home in Brookline Village, Boston. Living at 62 Buckminster Road was more than just a housing arrangement - it was an immersion into a movement that would transform American food culture. Michio and Aveline had started Erewhon in 1966 as a tiny below-street-level store on Newbury Street in Boston, selling bulk grains and seeds to a growing community hungry for traditional foods. By the time I arrived, Erewhon had become a beacon for natural foods, and the Kushis were at the center of a revolution in American eating habits. In their home, I learned traditional Japanese cooking directly from Aveline, while absorbing Michio's teachings about the profound connection between whole foods and wellness. This was a pivotal moment in the natural foods movement - what had started as a small store in Boston would eventually grow into the prestigious Erewhon market chain in California, and I was fortunate to be learning directly from its founders.

During this transformative year and a half in Boston, I also worked in the kitchen of the local macrobiotic restaurant in Boston, deepening my understanding of how traditional preparation methods could create extraordinary flavors and nourishment. This was a time when finding natural, whole foods in America was nearly impossible. We were part of a movement that was fundamentally changing how Americans thought about food and wellness.

In 1973, I returned to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where I joined Eden Foods Market - another pioneer of the natural food movement. Eden, which had expanded into a larger co-op grocery store on Maynard Street in 1969, became my laboratory for exploring traditional food preparation. In my little workspace, I made fresh chapatis and pocket bread, while around me, we fermented daikon pickles and created tekka with burdock root and carrots. Eden was importing traditional Japanese fermented foods, including authentic tamari and umeboshi plums aged in wooden kegs. These were revolutionary products at a time when most Americans had never encountered traditional fermented foods. This exposure to these time-honored fermentation processes opened my eyes to the miraculous transformations possible with food.

My home kitchen has always been a laboratory. Long before they became mainstream, I was perfecting recipes for kombucha, kefir, and almond milk. Each project was an adventure in transformation - yes, there were epic failures, but these fueled my determination to achieve something truly exceptional. I even turned olive picking in Corning, CA into an experiment in traditional preservation, starting with a pail of fresh olives using nothing but salt and water.

These experiences taught me that fermentation is just as crucial as cooking in developing both nutrition and flavor. When I discovered the historical manuscripts detailing early ginger beer production - the techniques, the tools, the ingredients - it felt like all my previous explorations had led to this moment. The traditional spiciness of ginger, enhanced through fermentation, creates something entirely new and deeply rooted in tradition.

Today, using high-pressure processing alongside traditional fermentation methods, I'm creating a ginger beer that harnesses heritage yeasts to develop complex flavors. This project builds directly on my hands-on experience with fermentation processes from my time at Erewhon and Eden Foods and through years of experimentation. The grant would establish a working lab able to create enough fermented concentrate to supply product to the cold pasteurization/bottling plant. 

- Ken Emmer

 Natural Foods Pioneer and Founder, The Original Ginger Beer