We welcome back chef Nicholas Repenning and Pacific harvester Nathan Maxwell Cann for this series of workshop and culinary experiments in conjunction with our June Low Low Tides seaweed harvest workshop.

June 14: MISO EXPLORATIONS
June 15: KOJI EXPLORATIONS
June 16: INTERTIDAL KITCHEN
June 17: 2nd Annual Community Miso Making

Each day consists of afternoon workshops followed by group dinner at Smithereen Farm.

In this suite of workshops, we’ll deep dive into koji and miso as well as explore local umami makers in the region around us. From ancient and traditional practices to contemporary uses of these culinary tools, let’s learn the mystical and practical wisdoms of umami! Hone your senses and open to the intimacy of taste and texture as we are guided by our other-than-human culinary and ecological partners.

Intertidal Kitchen with Nathan Maxwell Cann
A hands-on exploration of seaweed, fermentation, and the deep flavors of the shoreline, moving from tidepool harvest to simple kitchen preparations. Participants work with dashi, urchin gathering, seaweed seasonings, and koji-based techniques to understand how ecology, process, and taste converge into umami.

Second Annual Community Miso Making
We’ll open the miso we made at Smithereen last year and make a new batch to put away for a year. This annual tradition anchors us to our shared cultures and the flavors that only arrive when we invest time into our relationships with each other, our culinary histories, and the microbial world. Whether you’re returning to witness the transformation we initiated or joining for the first time, we welcome you to our miso community.

Nathan Maxwell Cann is a Pacific harvester, artist, and food and beverage consultant based in Northern California. He leads workshops focused on coastal ecology, seaweed, and urchin management through initiatives including Flora & Fungi and the Usal Project. Nathan is also the co-chair of Kelp Fest in Mendocino, where he collaborates with community members across disciplines to highlight the ecological and cultural significance of kelp and coastal food systems.

Nicholas Repenning is co founder of go-en fermented foods and acts as board member of Maine Ferments, an educational non profit project here in Maine. His focus over the past decade has been commercially producing and experimenting with Japanese foods in his own fermentation laboratory. Utilizing these ancient food technologies, Nicholas is enthusiastic to share all he has learned from these foods and the microbial partners that make it all happen.