Wild & Cultured Origins

Hi, I'm Keir, the founder of Wild & Cultured.  

Today, I make our condiments in small batches in a commercial kitchen, not so far from my home, where I developed the recipes over a few years.

Back in 2018 my body started to fail me when I'd only just hit 40.  Unwilling to accept this new reality I went in search of better health.

Being from a science and engineering background I wanted to understand what was wrong and fix it, which, as it does for many others, lead me on a journey of understanding through nutrition, food and lifestyle factors all the way to the incredible microbiomes we are all so reliant upon!

These little bacteria and fungi on every surface of our bodies turn out to be crucial to the functioning of basically all our internal systems!

70% of our immune molecules are produced by our little friends!

I set about trying to apply the science to evolve the way I ate and thought about food, but without losing the enjoyment of food.

All our products are the result of my continuing health journey, at some point during which ZOE started their science & nutrition podcasts which I cannot recommend highly enough if you're looking for somewhere to start!

There are probably a couple more things; like consuming more good fats, nuts and pulses, getting enough exercise, and fasting for 12+ hours overnight, but, basically, I wanted to:

REPLACE ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS with REAL FOOD, basically anything that contains ingredients you don't find in a home kitchen, emulsifiers and stabilisers do not appear to be good for our little friends.

INCREASE DIVERSITY - move over 5 portions of fruit & veg a day now it's all about 30+ different plants a week!  BUT we also need a DIVERSE GUT POPULATION, and they must be fed - FIBRE and POLYPHENOLS! Variety truly is the spice of life!

EAT FERMENTED FOODS EVERYDAY - studies show these are SUPERIOR TO PROBIOTIC PILLS at increasing the diversity of the community!  Consumption of fermented foods prevents pathogens from flourishing by nutrient blocking.  Since learning how incredible fermented foods are for you and how good they taste I’ve fermented everything I’ve laid my hands on!  Different bacteria live on different ingredients, so variety is key here too!

Nowhere does the science say 'don't have fun' or 'don't eat the things you enjoy'!  I enjoy chips, sweet potato mainly now, and the odd burger which can all be made with no nasties, but all the sauces are ultra-processed and full of sugar – eating which leads to inflammation causing blood sugar spikes!

Here's where the idea formed, we LOVE a condiment in our household, but they're basically ALL ultra-processed, and full of sugar, what if you could make them just good food..?

What if you could make them:

  • Delicious?
  • Diverse?
  • Free of ultra-processed ingredients?
  • Live?
  • Fermented?

Wild and Cultured was born!

Move over kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha, kefir, life just got a little more diverse!