Words Laura Potter. Photograph Stocksy
Rachel de Thample has worked for Marco Pierre White, Heston Blumenthal and Abel & Cole. With such a trendy pedigree, it’s perhaps only logical she’s turned her attention to one of the biggest food trends du jour, healthy preserving, running courses at Devon’s River Cottage. As is so often the case, for her it was personal: she started preserving after seeing a nutritionist, who revealed she had zero good bacteria in her gut. She started eating fermented foods and saw her energy soar and eczema vanish. ‘I went from needing to sleep all the time to signing up to a half marathon – the effect on my energy was pretty dramatic.’
Mintel research confirms that fermenting is here to stay, at least for a while – 68 per cent of UK adults agree that actively looking after their gut health, by measures such as eating probiotic-rich fermented foods, is essential to overall health, rising to 72 per cent of over-55s. Figures from one supermarket show sales of their kefir (fermented yoghurt) have tripled, while the kombucha market is expected to reach £567m by 2024.