The Fermentation School

Meet your teacher

Creator Bio:

Jessica Alonzo is a chef turned fermenter, educator and full-time small business owner. She is the founder of Native Ferments TX; a Dallas based Food Company focused on creating complex flavored pickles and ferments using seasonal produce from Texas farms. She finds inspiration in traditional preservation techniques from various cultures and strives to apply them to locally sourced ingredients. Whole utilization plays a big role in her approach to fermentation as it pushes her to find inventive ways to preserve and create new flavors out of waste or byproducts. She began her culinary journey in 2015 after she left her job in hospital administration to follow her passion for cooking. She quickly climbed the ranks at fine dining restaurants, Filament and FT-33, in Dallas and was introduced to the amazing world of fermentation while working as sous chef for Chef Matt McCallister in 2016. She was amazed by the transformation of ingredients that occurs during fermentation and was hooked. She then spent most of her free time reading about fermentation and traveling to learn from others around the country. She honed her fermentation skills by building the larder for McCallister’s current restaurant, Homewood, prior to its opening. Since then, she has worked for Chef Misti Norris, of Petra and the Beast, as her sous chef and fermentation specialist before leaving in early 2022 to pursue her own small business, Native Ferments TX.