Temple Emanu-El Skirball Center

Everything about pickles is fun. The name is amusing, the crunch is addictive and the taste is a party for the palette. As if that weren’t enough, there is mounting evidence that the natural bacteria in pickled produce protects our digestion, boosts our immune system and staves off all manner of sickness.

The potential health benefits of fermented vegetables have spawned a renaissance in authentic pickles — the kind your bubbie used to make. Crock-pot sightings on Brooklyn kitchen counters have increased exponentially, while delis are lining their shelves with jars of house pickles, sauerkraut and beet kvass. The pickle revolution has officially arrived!

Join us for an informative discussion on fermenting, followed by a do-it-yourself home pickling demonstration and a tasting of the best of New York’s pickles, sauerkrauts and other fermented treats, presented by three masters of fermentation:

The poster boy of pickling, Mr. Sandor Katz, aka “Sandorkraut,” is the author of Wild Fermentation. He has taught hundreds of workshops demystifying fermentation and is the recipient of the prestigious Craig Claiborne Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southern Food Alliance. Mr. Katz’s latest book, The Art of Fermentation, received a James Beard Award.

In 2010, Chef Robert Schaefer founded Divine Brine Foods on one simple principle: “We have to get back to the garden.” Prior, Schaefer was a chef in several renowned restaurants and cooked for Frank Sinatra, Woody Allen and President George H. W. Bush. Chef Schaefer lives on Long Island where the annual abundance of produce led him to become a master fermenter and to create uniquely delicious pickling recipes.

Rob Eshman is the author of the Foodaism blog, named one of the best food blogs in Los Angeles by CitysBest.com. He is the editor-in-chief and publisher of Tribe Media, which produces Jewish Journal and Jewish Insider. He spends his free time fermenting and tending to his gardens and chickens and goats.