Meet Laure Boutrais

Oct 27

World Ferment Day Ambassador for Wales

My name is Laure Boutrais and I am the ambassador for World Ferment Day in Wales.

I’m French but I’ve been in Wales for 31 years and I love the country and the people here so I’m very proud to be representing Wales for World Ferment Day on 1 February 2027.

What led you to fermentation?

Being French and Norman more particularly, I grew up in wine, cider and cheese as part of my culture and that probably runs in my blood. But it was in 2014 when I started a course in naturopathic nutrition here in South Wales and during a weekend on fermentation. We had a specific drinks fermentation weekend and I discovered a water cafe, I’d never heard of it. I loved the taste, wanted to make it myself. I had a go, shared it with my class and they loved it too, wanting to buy some more of me. And this is where all my journey started and eventually creating my little business called Absorb Health. I also started to run farmers market, develop 5 flavours, also sauerkraut, and because of the feedback that was coming back from people about how much it was helping them with their health, I decided to run start working workshop, running workshops on gut health and fermentation.

What keeps you fermenting?

I would say flavours, the flavours of fermented foods and drinks, in my case a drink. I absolutely love trying new flavours, tasting with the colours, the herbs, the flowers,the roots and the fruits. There’s always so many possibilities. Every batch is different. You can work with seasonality, whatever you find in the wild and add that to your ferment and I really love that idea. But also try with at home with fermentation of vegetables. This is just something so fascinating, creative and really can reduce waste as well. And most of all, I really love sharing the idea of sharing fermented foods, either fermenting together and trying it. There’s always something new to discover, someone’s going to have an idea, you can fuse so many cultures, ancient traditions together and have a go really.

What was your first experience in fermenting?

I first probably tasted like the choucroute back in France as well as my dad making cider. But my proper making was in the court in naturopathy in 2014. We can start and then trying myself making water kefir. I tried it, loved it, buying sculptures and starting to make it, people wanting to buy and this is where it all began.

What is an easy way to introduce ferments to someone who has never tried them?

I would really try to keep it simple. Start with something that people are familiar with. So in my case, water kefir, I think is a really nice way to start trying something fermented because it’s gentle, gentle on the palate and you can have it at any time of the day. Sauerkraut is also a lovely one to taste when I run my workshops. I always have different mix of flavors, different additions to the cabbage, also different ages of sauerkraut. I show a very simple recipe with the cabbage and the salt. The other one I like to share is sourdough bread because it's a lovely alternative to any sort of breads, white breads, people using sourdough instead of commercialized bread can really help themselves with bloating and intolerances to gluten. Basically not to be frightened by the word fermented, it's food that can be so delicious and also so nutritious and help in terms of digestion and whatever is coming up for you.

How does fermentation fit into your life?

Every day you can see I’m in my business environment. I’ve been a full-time fermenter now since the beginning of July (2026), although the business started in 2017. I am now fully dedicated to the fermentation cause. I also am present in farmers markets running workshops, teaching fermentation, also experimenting in my kitchen. Every morning I am going to have something fermented that is in my fridge. I will have a bit of milk here in my porridge or in my yogurt. I have fermented porridge sometimes. I’ll have a bit of sourdough. I make my own sourdough, miso, sourdough bread. And I’ll be following seasons, trying something that's just come up that we’ve got too much of at the moment. We’ve just had a lot of peppers so I’ve just been lacto-fermenting them. I also like sharing as well what I discover so I have a fermentation group and every time I try something new I will be posting that and really lovely to also see what others are trying in the kitchen. So it’s really part of who I am.

Which ferment or ferments did you eat/drink most recently?

So the sourdough bread, I’ll have that in the morning or milk kefir, I’ll have water kefir throughout the day, rehydrate myself. Also if I want to avoid drinking alcohol for example, it’s a lovely way to have something to pick me up. I love some wild garlic buds on some of my dishes. There’s always sauerkraut or kimchi in the fridge which will be added to anything I’m eating, add it to a sandwich or in some pasta to pick up, some seasonal ferments. I have lovely courgette and tomato relish at the moment. Yeah, there’s always something fermenting basically in my fridge. So fermentation is really part of my life, I love sharing it with others. And if you want to try, start your own journey, join us in the challenge for a world ferment. Day on 1 of February. Have a look at the website. There’s a lot of resources there if you want to create your own little event. You’re welcome to do that or you can join me and join our group. Look at the events that are available and yeah, happy World Ferment Day.