All our products are fermented or contain fermented ingredients. All our ferments are also unpasteurized and therefore live, which means they offer particular health benefits. On this page, you can learn more about mimi's products and fermentation methods.

The Beginning

What exactly is fermentation? Fermentation comes from the Latin fervere, which means "to boil (water)." It refers to the characteristic of many ferments, such as bubbling during the fermentation process and the formation of bubbles. This is how sparkling wine pearls, bubbles form in bread, and the mash of soy sauce bubbles. The bubbles are caused by gases produced by the metabolism of countless microorganisms.

Microorganisms play a major role in fermentation. Depending on what grows and how it thrives, it significantly determines the edibility and taste of the ferment. But don't worry, the fermentation of food has been practiced for thousands of years, even without knowing exactly what is happening. It is a very robust process that also makes food more durable, healthier, more digestible, and even tastier.

In fermentation, microorganisms are often deliberately used. For example, specific yeasts for certain beers. At mimi, we mainly use different types of koji for our ferments. Koji is a noble mold of the genus Aspergillus - also known as "watering can mold" in German. The name Aspergillus, by the way, comes from the fact that the spore carriers of the fungus resemble an aspergillum used for sprinkling holy water. Koji spores are finely dusted onto the prepared raw materials and cultivated on them for two days under controlled conditions. After this time, the koji mold has colonized the entire substrate and looks wonderfully fluffy. In further steps, miso, shoyu, sake, mirin, and many other Japanese products essential to Japanese cuisine can be fermented from it.

Miso

Miso is a Japanese seasoning paste that mostly consists of soybeans, rice, and salt. Depending on the recipe, it is fermented for a few months to several years. Miso probably originated in China. There, "Jiang," a relatively liquid paste made from fermented vegetables, fish, game, and later also legumes, had been produced for millennia, first mentioned in writing in 200 BC.

Jiang was brought to Japan by the 7th century at the latest and was initially produced by Buddhist monks and called "Hishio." It was not until the 9th century that the current spelling "Miso" was introduced, marking a point from which Japanese Miso became independent and culturally integrated. With the increasing cultivation of soybeans, Miso made its way to becoming a staple food in Japan and is now used in almost every household. Traditionally, for example, a bowl of Miso soup is part of a Japanese breakfast. According to Japanese mythology, Miso is a gift from the gods to bestow health, longevity, and a happy life. In the 1960s, it came to Europe as part of the macrobiotic diet.

Since Miso was traditionally made for personal consumption on many farms and in temples, there are countless varieties of Miso. Every region and many families have their own special recipe. These range from young to aged Misos or sweet to very savory and salty varieties. Corresponding to the multitude of recipes, the naming is very diverse and unfortunately not uniform. Common varieties are Saikyo Miso, Shiro Miso, Aka Miso, Hatcho Miso.