Ferment Happy Hour

Please join us monthly for FERMENT! - A local/sustainable food and agriculture happy hour in Madison, WI.

There will not be a Ferment happy hour in February. Instead, please consider attending the next Come to the Table event at the Memorial Union. 

Here is what we did in January:

January 2010: Wisconsin Summer Sausage

Zum Schluss der Wurst ein kräftig Hoch!
Johnsonville may be the name that has made Wisconsin famous for brats, but Wisconsin's history of local sausage-making is as rich as our beloved cheesemakers and breweries. Summer sausage is a seasoned sausage which is thoroughly cured, so that it does not require refrigeration. Despite the name, it's not necessarily made in the summer (though it can be); rather, prior to modern refrigeration it was made when animals were butchered and then eaten in the summer. The varieties of summer sausage are as diverse as the lands, towns and artisans who make them, and every sausage-maker considers their recipe a guarded secret. The continued importance of sausage-makers to Wisconsin is evidenced by the growing membership of the Wisconsin Association of Meat Processors and their annual competition for the best Braunschweiger, Bologna, and Bratwurst.
 
For January, we're returning to the Eastside, thanks to Greg and his staff at Bon Appetit Cafe for hosting us! Come join us for a Summer Sausage fest! We will feature farmers who are having their meats made into Summer Sausage by local processors. We'll sample a variety of meats, including beef from Fountain Prairie, pork from Willow Creek and bison from Cherokee Bison Farms. Of course, a summer sausage tasting would not be complete without Wisconsin game. So we'll also bring a few surprises - but you'll have to come to find out what they are!

All attending will be Nic Bruns of Hamann Charuterie, located in the Northside Town Center at the corners of Sherman and Northport (across from Warner Park), cures local meats including applewood bacon, bratwurst, andouille, chorizo, pancetta, mortadella and more.  The recipes are all his own, and he uses local organic meat, like pork from Jordandal Farm and beef from Earth Rise Farm in Waunakee, and organically and locally grown herbs, shallots, garlic and fennel, whenever they are available.
 
Paired with the Summer Sausage will be award-winning Hook's Cheese. And Bon Appetit's Chef Greg will prepare a menu of evening appetizers and beverages to keep us warm and in our post-holiday glow.

What is Ferment?  This informal (and free) happy hour started in 2006 with the hope of providing a place for Madison and Dane County's farmers, activists, cooks, government and university staff, students, food connoisseurs and others who care about sustainable agriculture and local food issues to come together. We hope you can join us.

You can view a sampling of our past local-food tastings by selecting the Past Tastings link above.