Tender Fire Kitchen’s Temperamental Dough

Fermentation Takes Center Stage in New Mexico This Fall

Fermentation may be an ancient technique, but New Mexico chefs, bakers, schools, and food producers are finding plenty of new ways to put it to work.

From three-day sourdough pizza crusts to fermented sweet potato fries, this fall offers plenty of opportunities to explore how fermentation can transform flavor, texture, and even the way we think about everyday food.

Tender Fire Kitchen and the Art of Sourdough Pizza

Before it had a permanent storefront in Santa Fe, Tender Fire Kitchen built a loyal following as a pop-up pizza operation. The attraction was easy to understand: chewy Neapolitan-style crust, carefully selected ingredients, and a dough with a personality of its own.

Tender Fire’s dough is leavened entirely with sourdough starter, without the addition of commercial yeast. The dough ferments for three days, developing the sour and tangy flavor that has become an important part of the restaurant’s pizza.

Working with a living sourdough culture also means the process isn’t completely predictable. Owner Ben Crosky says the dough can behave differently from one day to the next, even when the crew follows the same process carefully.

That unpredictability is part of what makes naturally fermented dough so interesting. It’s not simply a recipe being repeated. It’s a living process that requires the people making it to pay attention and adjust along the way.

Fermented Sweet Potato Fries

Fermentation can also change something as familiar as a sweet potato.

Fermenting sweet potatoes before cooking isn’t primarily about adding probiotics. Instead, the process changes the potatoes themselves. Fermentation begins breaking down some of their starches while lightly seasoning them and adding a subtle tang.

Once fried, the potatoes develop a crisp exterior while remaining light and fluffy inside. The fermentation also creates a depth of flavor that ordinary sweet potato fries don’t quite have.

It’s a relatively simple example of how fermentation can take a familiar ingredient and turn it into something noticeably different.

Kids Menu: Fresh Food at Turquoise Trail Charter School

Fermentation isn’t the only place where people are rethinking familiar food.

At Turquoise Trail Charter School, Patricia Garcia has helped transform the cafeteria by moving away from heat-and-serve meals and toward fresh food made from scratch.

With a rotating menu and plenty of variety, Garcia is preparing meals that both students and teachers actually look forward to eating.

Cooking fresh food for hundreds of students every day isn’t a small undertaking. It requires planning, preparation, creativity, and the ability to make food that works on a large scale while still appealing to kids.

Garcia’s work also highlights a bigger question about school meals: what happens when the cafeteria becomes a place where children are introduced to thoughtfully prepared, real food?

Her story is featured in an episode of 5-Minute Fridays, where she discusses what goes into feeding hundreds of students and why improving school lunch can have an impact far beyond the cafeteria.

The episode is presented with support from Quivira Coalition.

ABQ Fermentation & Fungi Festival Returns October 11

For anyone who wants to experience fermentation firsthand, the ABQ Fermentation & Fungi Festival returns October 11.

The event brings together local fungi producers, fermented foods and beverages, New Mexico vendors, and educational demonstrations centered on fermentation and fungi.

The festival will also feature a wine and cheese pairing along with the return of the Battle of the Breads Competition.

Whether it’s sourdough pizza, fermented vegetables, fungi, bread, or an entirely new approach to school lunch, New Mexico’s food community continues to show how much can happen when people give good ingredients a little time—and sometimes let nature do part of the cooking.