Tuesday
Week three began with a celebration honoring the year of the rabbit. I joined prof. Vesna and her friends and colleagues on Sunday, January 22nd, via zoom to celebrate the new year virtually. I enjoyed learning about human and animal species' relationships, experiences, perspectives, and shared stories. It was lovely listening and learning from the participants' presentations, who made their own cultural dishes at home and shared their brief dish histories and stories.
This week started off with the giant container of scoby, which really resembled what I imagine rotten skin to look like. It also smelled like what I imagine rotten skin would smell like. Personally, I really like Kombucha and I knew it has live bacteria and involves fermentation but I never researched or witnessed what the creation process is like. It was cool to see. The thing I really enjoyed learning more about in this class was sustainable materials made out of organic materials such as mushrooms.
Tuesday
We began by learning about exciting projects that celebrated the rabbit for the Lunar New Year. We watched a Zoom recording of a meeting where each artist or scientist shared their art-science collaborative work exploring topics like genetics, animals, culture, and the relationship between animals and humans as pets, companions, experimental projects, and food.
Zodiac artwork Professor Vesna brought to class.
Assignment 3: CNSI building + Professor James lecture abt SCALE/molecular/atomic + art piece by Alison Hiltner
During Week 3 we learned about a variety of different kinds of topics including Professor Vesna's collaborative lunar new year project with artist and scientists worldwide, a tour of the botanical garden, a weird living organism called SCOBY (a starter for kombucha), and a tour of a machine that creates plasma for research purposes studying atomic bombs.
It's pretty amazing to imagine all the possibilities for solutions that can be discovered through fungi, and considering the universality of the mycelial archetype that we see everywhere in the universe, it's almost like, how are we just now getting to this?
During fermentation, thousands of bacteria interact over time, bringing about a magical, yummy, alchemy. In a forest, mycelium networks flow together, creating complex systems that undergird the forest’s foundation. In our guts, bacteria control our digestion and mood. Oxygen helps us breathe. This mosaic of systems shows us how millions of micro and macro factors work together to sustain life, interconnected.
According to Mayoclinic.org, kombucha is a fermented drink most commonly made using bacteria, yeast, tea and a sweetener. The author argues that kombucha is not a mushroom as I had assumed, but rather bacteria and yeast. According to Webmd.com, kombucha is used to regulate high blood pressure and cancer amongst other conditions, from hair loss to AIDS, but the scientific evidence to support its benefits in terms of those conditions is lacking.
It’s pretty amazing that almost all living things are connected through oxygen that is utilized in the burning of glucose for fuel, this process is called glycolysis. We are all in the hands of oxygen, as it plays an important role in cellular respiration. Any organism that uses this common glycolytic pathway uses oxygen to break down food molecules to obtain chemical energy for cells.
On Thursday the 20th I began the fermentation of my kombucha using a kombucha home-brewing kit that my family was given a year ago (I was surprised to find that the SCOBY alive and well, and ready to make kombucha!). After making the sweet tea and cooling it down, I opened the SCOBY package and immediately recognized that kombucha smell. As of now the SCOBY has been fermenting in the jar for three days – in five more days I will start taste testing the kombucha to see if it is ready.
One of my favorite desserts growing up is a Chinese dessert called jiu niang (酒酿). Essentially, it is sweet fermented rice and is often paired with mini glutinous rice balls. This dish is supposed to "warm your insides" and improve blood flow and includes many health benefits as does yogurt. If the fermentation is left in warmer temperatures to develop for several days, it will actually turn into Chinese rice wine or rice vinegar. I actually tried my hand at creating this myself because I was not able to get SCOBY in time.
Joseph Hernandez Torrejon
DESMA 160
January 23, 2022
Week 3 Blog