B.Culture

b.culture was founded by Will Moffat and Mikael Svensson in November 2020. In the fall we sat down for a meeting to discuss having Will produce a specific miso that was unavailable on the Norwegian market, as well as the possibility of utilising different byproducts from Kontrast and fermenting them into something that could be reintroduced to the menu or even sold. This was the beginning of b.culture. The founding concept of b.culture is to work as locally as we can, implementing techniques from all over the globe to transform byproducts from Kontrast and other sources into unique premium items. We want to make these accessible for the Norwegian market instead of a few isolated places. Everything is organic and/or repurposed because we love the planet. The general terms we use are exactly that general. None of the products made fit into the classic terms but more our interpretation and representation of these using the methods paired with our own ingredients. Koji- Koji is the base of delicious things. If you have ever consumed sake, miso, mirin, soy sauce, amazake or a number of other ingredients you have eaten koji. This is a specific strain of mold that is grown on different grains or bases, through the time of growth different enzymes are created. Amylase which breaks down starches to sugars, and protease which breaks down proteins to amino acids ( including glutamate) these two are the hardest workers in the company creating very delicious things. Shoyu- Shoyu is known typically as soy sauce. Our shoyu are quite different in the way that we dont use soy in production of any of our products, instead relying on local ingredients. We make two different styles of shoyu, the first being “ a modern ''. This means that its the base ingredient blended with koji, salt and water then aged at 60c. This allows us to speed the browning as well as the enzyme action while keeping the salt levels low. The second method is the classic one meaning growing koji directly on the grains, adding them to a salt brine and mixing daily for months. This leaves us with a “shiro” or white soy of sorts, bright super complex easy to pair to delicate foods at the same time higher salt. Garum- Garum was classically used by the Romans as a portable protein source. This was heavily salted fish similar to today's fish sauce. The garum we produce is based on koji enzymes, and a number of different proteins including beef, langoustine, shrimp, bøkling, egg whites etc. through the fermentation process the flavors heavily condense leaving an intense roasted essence of the original base. Imagine if you could squeeze out the rich satisfying flavor of the most perfectly cooked steak or langoustine and condense it into a salty umami rich sauce. Peaso- Peaso is made in the style of a white miso although it is named Amai ( sweet) instead because the color is more yellow than white. This is based on organic yellow peas from Sweden, salt from northern Norway, and barley koji. Being sweeter and lower salt makes it easy to incorporate into soups, use as a marinade for meat, fish or chicken, as well as mixing into salad dressings. This is one of our most versatile products.