When Tanya Batskikh moved to the U.S. from her native Russia in 2003, she particularly missed the fermented foods she had grown up with. “I missed good pickles,” she said, “and sauerkraut.”
She went to shops carrying Russian food, but what she found didn’t meet her expectations. “It was OK,” Batskikh said, but “it was not the same quality.”
Her longing for these foods from home was her impetus to begin making her own. She started with sauerkraut. “I had helped my mother make sauerkraut, but never been in charge of a batch from start to finish,” she said. “When it was finished, I was so happy. It was just what I wanted.”
Credit: Courtesy of Cultured Traditions
Credit: Courtesy of Cultured Traditions
As it turned out, she was developing her recipes at the same time many Americans were embracing fermented foods. “I started seeing people interested in healthy foods, understanding how good fermented foods are for you,” Batskikh said, “and I realized that’s why I had been craving those foods so much.”
By 2013, the time was right for her to launch Cultured Traditions. Batskikh began by selling at the Sandy Springs Farmers Market, where, she said, she was amazed by the response of shoppers. “I enjoyed watching people’s response, how much they liked what I was making,” she said. “We were an instant success.”
She started with just traditional Russian-style white sauerkraut, made with green cabbage and carrots.
Credit: Courtesy of Cultured Traditions
Credit: Courtesy of Cultured Traditions
She remembers customers stopping at her booth and saying, “I don’t eat sauerkraut,” but then trying her products, enjoying them and taking some home. Ultimately, she said, customers felt they were getting health benefits from her fermented foods.
Then, she began selling red sauerkraut, made with red cabbage, radishes and beets — items her customers easily could recognize.
Credit: Courtesy of Cultured Traditions
Credit: Courtesy of Cultured Traditions
Next, Batskikh brought a less familiar product to market: beet kvass, a fermented beverage made from raw beets.
Her customers began giving her suggestions for things they would like her to make, such as garlic dill pickles. “I welcomed their ideas, and that gave me even more ideas,” Batskikh said.
Credit: Courtesy of Cultured Traditions
Credit: Courtesy of Cultured Traditions
As Batskikh researched foods and health, she created a “seaweed” version of her sauerkraut, combining cabbage with daikon radish, leeks, dulse, kelp, Irish moss and bladderwrack. She also made kimchi and jun, a honey-sweetened kombucha-type drink.
“The more I did, the more I learned, the more passionate I became about these foods,” she said.
Credit: Courtesy of Cultured Traditions
Credit: Courtesy of Cultured Traditions
Soon, Batskikh and her team were working out of a commercial kitchen in Suwanee, producing a wide range of fermented foods — many based on recipes from her homeland and others inspired by the suggestions of her customers, as well as her own curiosity.
Depending on the time of year, Cultured Traditions makes pickles and occasional seasonal ferments, hot sauce, cultured nondairy products (such as coconut kefir cheese), six varieties of sauerkraut and more.
Credit: Courtesy of Cultured Traditions
Credit: Courtesy of Cultured Traditions
Batskikh has found being a food entrepreneur particularly satisfying. “I came to the United States with degrees in linguistics, architecture and engineering,” she said. “I worked in several jobs after I arrived, but knew that I really wanted to work for myself. I feel very lucky to have found a way to share my passion for fermented foods, while developing a business that is flexible, so I can care for my family.”
You can find the Cultured Traditions booth at the Suwanee Farmers Market, held weekly during the summer, and biweekly the rest of the year. And, her white, red, garlic pickle and spicy garlic ginger sauerkrauts are available at Atlanta area Whole Foods Markets, as well as three varieties of jun.
Credit: Courtesy of Cultured Traditions
Credit: Courtesy of Cultured Traditions
Batskikh said she believes her mother would be proud of the business she created, starting with that memory of them making sauerkraut together.
“I loved her so much,” Batskikh said. “I wish I could share this with her. We never dreamed this would be my life here in the United States.”
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