The Domingo fermenter is a key tool in the discovery and realisation of a multitude of cross-species collaborations.

What we’re doing with the fermenter so far:

• tempeh: a superfood that combines plants and fungi, it’s the best alternative to meat we’ve found. It can be made with almost any legume.
• koji: a fermented rice that is the basis of all the Japanese ferments (miso, shoyu, amazake, sake, etc.). It instantly creates a magnificient umami flavour. It’s simply delicious, try it and you’ll love it.
• composite material: when mycelium grows on wood chips or straw, it becomes very resistant; when it develops in moulds, it takes on the shape you want it to have. The myco material is a fantastic substitute for plastic.

What remains to be explored :

• natural dyes
• vegan cheese
• …

Our goal of creating an open source product and growing a community of users to spread the power of fermentation is becoming more tangible every day. There have been a number of milestones along the way, the most recent of which was this workshop where we teached an existing community how to make their own future fermenter using digital manufacturing techniques, and then to learn how to use it by making tempeh together, so that the group could then integrate it into their practices and explore other uses.

For this workshop, we teamed up with the Ateneu de Fabricació de Grácia (AFABG) and La Cuina del Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA). Together we built our open-source project from our website, using the machines available at AFABG. We soldered and assembled the electronics, machined the wooden cabinet using the CNC milling machine and 3D printed the parts needed to put it all together, all without any prior knowledge, but with guidance from us and the AFABG team. Because the Cuina collective built the machine themselves, they could understand it completely and in the future, they will be able to repair it, upgrade it and give it a longer life cycle.

In the second part of the workshop, we demonstrated the use of the fermenter by making tempeh together, which allowed us to introduce the fermentation process and the magic that the fermenter can bring to any culinary practice. Together we discussed why and how to ferment at home, and its impact on our planet, our health and our communities.

We are delighted to have been able to demonstrate the holistic vision of the project during this workshop which touches on open source, digital manufacturing, circularity, fermentation, the climate and the food crisis. A Huge thanks FoodSHIFT 2030 and Fab Lab Barcelona that have supported us in the realisation of it.

Souvenir of last month when we were invited to Brussels, our beloved city, to take part in two events on the future of our food system as a response to the climate crisis we are experiencing.

On the one hand, we had the chance to express our views on how can we better empower citizens to participate in their food system and be active part of the tranformation. Maud was invited to the panel discussion about citizen-driven food system transformation for the European FoodSHIFT Policy Conference to talk about our vision and experience as innovators in this sector and the different challenges we have faced over the last 2.5 years as selected innovators in this European project.

While the day before, we shared our project and our knowledge of tempeh fermentation at Fermenthings - the Belgian hub for fermentation knowledge - in their fermentation lab, where they invite to a space of innovation and creativity to explore, experiment and learn not only about ferments, but also about a culture of sustainability and innovation in circular fermentation. We also left one of our fermenters and some tempeh necklaces over there.

What could be more delightful than stars anointing themselves in this way?

The mycelium, the root network of fungi, is a dense and interconnected structure. This mycelial network has the ability to grow in all directions, seeking nutrients and connecting everything that can be connected. It is the network that allows trees to communicate, that allows the forest to exchange and grow.
But the great power of the mycelium is above all decomposition. It is the mycelium that digests and decomposes all organic matter, breaking it down into small elements that can then be reused by other beings.
Without mycelium there would be no life, resources would be unique and scarce, and the earth would be covered with dead matter. If the soil is fertile and nutrients are available again and again, it is thanks to the mycelium.

The photos show one of our prototypes of aerial mycelium, which grows with little substrate but nevertheless fills its volume thanks to its dense structure.

Introducing the fermenter at the Fixing The Future event at Barcelona’s Design Museum, a three days event of panel discussions, debates, workshops and performances that brought together 25 future-shaping projects from across the world. It was very rewarding for us to be in this environment where we’re all going in the same direction.

Last Wednesday we held a workshop on ‘Collaborating with Microorganisms’ in partnership with Fab Lab Barcelona as part of the iFest, a great challenge competition of Catalonia that trains young people to innovation and entrepreneurship.

We introduced the six winning teams to fermentation processes, why and how to reintroduce these techniques as a sustainable, nutritious and affordable solution to fixing our food system and tackling the climate crisis.

We then got our hands wet by making a kraut-chi, a hybrid of sauerkraut and kimchi, the German and Korean words for fermented vegetables. We took care of unseen nature by passing on our good energy to this magical process. At the end of the workshop, participants went home with a small jar of their own kraut-chi.

It was a dynamic, fun and inspiring opportunity for us to pass on our vision and knowledge to a group of attentive and creative students who are the next generation of innovators.

Last weekend we enjoyed being invited to the IV Festival de Fermentacion in Barcelona, organised by Nerea Zorokiain Garin. It was a beautiful gathering full of enthusiasm and sharing, in a magnificent simplicity that allowed us to get to know many inspiring projects among the guests but also among the participants.

The programme included workshops, project presentations, tastings, debates and two macrobiotic meals around a big table like one big family. Our senses were awakened and our digestive systems were in heaven!

We enjoyed the opportunity to present our project to the festival’s enthusiastic but also budding audience of fermentista, and we’re delighted with the feedback we received about our mission to promote alternative proteins and offer everyone the chance to take part in the wonderful world of collaboration with micro-organisms thanks to the tools we build and the workshops we organise.

We were also invited to debate food sovereignty at a round table, motivating us to continue our work and promote a citizen-led food transition!

We had a wonderfull time. Thanks to the organisation.

Several months ago, we made a video for an Hackaday contest, when we were on our way to Indonesia. Today we realised that we’d never shared it, perhaps because we hadn’t won the grand prize. In this video, we explain our fermenter, from its use to its fabrication. Our product has changed a bit in the meantime, but it’s still great to see all the work we’ve done since the beginning of our adventure.

And as usual, with Maud in front of the camera and Antoine behind it. Enjoy!

We were delighted to be invited on 14 September 2023 to take part in a round table discussion on “Circular entrepreneurship and incentives for boosting the circular maker movement” at the Pop-Machina policy conference in Brussels, a European Horizon 2020 project researching the circular economy and collaborative production in urban environments through makerspaces, urban regeneration and entrepreneurship.

As a maker-entrepreneur, it was great to get together with other practitioners as well as policy makers and academics to think about the different approaches in each sector, as well as the current challenges and the results achieved. In particular, we had the opportunity to express our views on subjects such as how makerspaces and makers can work together to boost the circular economy and entrepreneurship, and how the European Union can boost circularity and makerspaces via a labelling or certification system.

Circularity has always played a key role in our project. As well as opting for sustainable materials, we take great care to ensure that our designs can be dismantled, repaired and upgraded. Prototyping and producing our products in makerspaces allows us to demonstrate this. By making our products open-source, we want everyone to be able to understand them and participate in their longevity.

It was therefore super satisfying for us to take part in this Pop-machina closing event, after having participated in the project as a mentor and inspiring guest last December.

An exciting collaboration. We created the Domingo fermenter necklace just over a year ago, with the aim of revealing a fantastic natural process by inviting the wearer to transfer their energy to a mycelial network. We use it by making tempeh, a fermentation process originally from Indonesia that combines plants and mushrooms to create delicious plant proteins.

For several months now, we have been working with The Indonesia Tempe Movement to create a local version of the necklace for Indonesians, so that they can proudly wear and promote their cultural heritage, for a plant-based future that is nutritious, affordable and delicious. Part of the profits are donated to YUM, an association fighting malnutrition in Indonesia.

Thanks to Driando, Vania and Ruben for this great collaboration.
Long live tempeh!