Hold General has been running for 3 years in Victoria, BC aiming to help forge connections with food supply, community, and the natural environment. They encourage folks to connect with dirt, heirloom skills, and traditional craft. They are now shifting their focus to offer more skill-building workshops in the community.
Below, we’ve got a selection of some of their homestead/foodie workshops!
Growing food in the City @ Hold General and Solara’s Garden
No-Knead Sourdough Bread and Intro to sourdough starter maintenance
Monday, June 18th
5pm-9pm
70$
FMI & REGISTER: https://holdgeneral.ca/collections/upcoming-events/products/sourdough
Although a lengthier process than baking bread with yeast, a naturally leavened loaf is a thing of beauty – and nutrient rich, too. Learn the basics of how to create these alluring sourdough breads with their well-developed crusts and open, flavourful crumb.
The first portion of the class will be spent exploring the foundation of sourdough starters; how to make, maintain, and use them. After a quick break for dinner (please bring your own dinner snack) we will return for the hands-on component of the workshop which includes detailed handouts, dough handling, bread tasting and plenty of time for questions. You will leave with some sourdough starter, a loaf of bread to bake at home, plus a deeper understanding of sourdough bread and plenty of encouragement to usher you down the path of healthful grains!
Tamiae is co-owner and baker of a commissary-based microbakery called Lakehouse Foods located in Vancouver, BC. Lakehouse Foods specializes in organic sourdough bread made with whole grains and fresh-milled flour. Her diverse background of exploring different vocations has led her to find enduring challenge, joy, and creative expression in the ever-changing art of sourdough bread. She is always excited to share the things she’s learned and the methods she has explored, and most of all to share her enthusiasm for good quality homemade food. Especially real bread.
www.lakehousefoods.ca
@lakehousefoods on instagram
Please bring a small jar if you wish to take home some starter, as well as a tea towel and loaf pan (or a small mixing bowl) to facilitate transporting your unbaked loaf. A pen and notebook are also helpful.
Warning: this workshop is very gluten friendly!
The Art and Science of Fermented Vegetables – Hands on Fermentation Workshop and Ferment Tasting
Fermented foods have been an essential food all over the world for millennia. Fermentation is a natural process that breaks down the carbohydrates and sugars found in vegetables and transforming them into a bio-diverse ecology of beneficial probiotic bacteria, vitamins, antioxidants and digestive enzymes. The Magic of Fermentation is that it is only food preservation technique that improves the nutrient content of the original foods through the craft this natural energy.
In the modern industrial food system we find ourselves in, traditional foods and the knowledge of how to create them is being lost.
- A solid understanding of how to make fermented vegetable pickles
- A 1L jar of your own custom blended creation to ferment at home
- A print out recipe of how to re-create fermented veggies over and over at home
- Your belly full of fermented veggie samples provided by Pure Earth Superfoods
- What is the difference between pickles and ferments?
- How can I ensure my fermentation is safe?
- How do I choose the best ingredients for a successful ferment?
- What types of salt are best for fermenting with?
- What type of water is needed for fermentation?
- How do i know if the fermentation is working?
- What do i do if it is not tasting right?
Fermented Dairy Kefir
With James Day R.H.N – Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Certified Chef.
Tuesday May 8th
6:30pm-8pm
$45
FMI & REGISTER: https://holdgeneral.ca/collections/upcoming-events/products/copy-of-april-15th-spring-wild-edibles
Considering making milk kefir at home? How does kefir taste? How is it made? What else can you do with Kefir? Get answers to frequently asked milk kefir questions to be ready to make kefir!
Milk kefir is full of friendly bacteria and due to the fermentation process Kefir is often tolerated by lactose sensitive people among so many other benefits.
Class will include:
- The history of kefir and understand the fundementals of all the stages of the fermentation process
- The nutritional benefits of milk kefir
- How to make, maintain, and store your culture
- In class explore how to make yogurt, cheese, crème, fraiche from milk kefir grains
- Learn how to incorporate this amazing food into your everyday diet
This class includes demonstration, hands-on experience, recipes and, of course lots of tastings! The option to purchase alive fresh grains for $5 at the workshop.
James is a UK Michelin trained chef for 23 years plus, he was trained with Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quatre Saisons and Le Petit Blanc Brasserie for over 9 years. Followed by many restaurants around the world eventually bringing him to Canada. Here he worked at Araxi and The Fairmont Chateaux in Whistler, Hawksworth and Meat and Bread in Vancouver and many others. He expanded his love for food by taking a Holistic Nutrition Program at CSNN in Vancouver which has allowed him to take food to the next level of, knowing how to also nourish people’s health and wellness goals too
https://www.instagram.com/thelongtableseries/
https://www.thelongtableseries.ca
Botanical Ink Making
Wednesday May 16th
6pm-8:30pm
$100
FMI & REGISTER: https://holdgeneral.ca/collections/upcoming-events/products/copy-of-april-29th-sourdough
Come learn how to make botanical drawing inks from plants that were wildcrafted, homegrown, and some exotic pigments.
You will learn the basics of ink making- and come away with a set of 10- 1/2 oz amber glass bottles of ink, as well as the recipe to make more at home!
Caitlin Ffrench is a textile artist working in the unceded Coast Salish Territories of East Vancouver
She regularly teaches workshops in different applications of textile arts and natural dyes, is a knitwear designer, and tries to spend as much time as she can outside. If you would like to see the day to day of her life, please take a look at her Instagram page.
Caitlin received a BFA from the University of British Columbia (Okanagan) and she attended the Kootenay School of the Arts for their textile program.
https://www.instagram.com/ffrench
For more info on Hold General and upcoming workshops, please visit their website: https://holdgeneral.ca