PRESENTER: The following program was produced in the Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross WPSU Production Studio in University Park, Pennsylvania.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: Food, a basic necessity.

We all need nutrients to survive and thrive.

Whether your meals come from the field, the fridge, the treasured family recipe, or the takeout menu, something special happens when we come together and share a meal and a common bond.

Culinary Connections is where we celebrate the people and places that use food to connect with the world around them.

Today, we'll take you to Bedford, PA, and introduce you to Mandisa Horn and her restaurant, Horn O Plenty.

The more you spend time with the food, the better it tastes.

And that's where the love is.

Mandisa, welcome to the Culinary Connections kitchen.

Thanks for having me.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: And later, we'll show you how they make homemade salsa.

I'm Tamra Fatemi-Badi, and welcome to Culinary Connections.

PRESENTER: Culinary Connections is supported in part by The Rockwell Foundation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, supporting the arts, science, technology, and education and a proud supporter of local programs on WPSU.

And Bonfatto's Italian Market & Corner Cafe at 401 West High Street in Bellefonte, offering authentic Italian cuisine and deli items, along with custom-order espressos and cappuccinos.

Bonfatto's.com.

Support also comes from The Tavern Restaurant, downtown State College, offering lunch, dinner, and cocktails since 1948.

Information at thetavern.com.

And McQuaide Blasko, Attorneys at Law, a regional law firm serving all of central Pennsylvania.

Information online at mqblaw.com.

And by viewers like you.

Thank you.

[music playing] MANDISA HORN: In our restaurant, the first thing we do is light the fire.

7:00 in the morning, we come in.

We're getting the wood out.

We're setting up the fire.

And we started early because it takes that much time to build up the heat for the rest of the day's cooking.

Food preparation, I know people hate it.

I understand.

[chuckles] But it gives life to a meal.

The more you spend time with the food, the better it tastes.

A labor of love is work.

And we're talking about work.

And when you're working with something, you're spending time with it, and that's where the love is.

It's on the plate.

That love is on the plate.

And when someone eats it, that's what they taste.

There's a story on the plate.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: The story of Horn O Plenty restaurant began in 2011 in Bedford.

Mandisa Horn's story started seven generations ago, but she was most influenced by a more recent descendant.

MANDISA HORN: There was a time period where I lived with my grandparents, and my grandfather was the only Black full-time teacher in Bedford County, still to this day.

And growing up with him, he has taught me so much.

And the way he saw the world was what projected on him.

There's this element of separation in the area.

Or segregation.

Maybe you could use the word "segregation."

I think it's appropriate.

Because it was real.

And now that I'm older and I see what he went through and how he went through it, I realized that he taught me way more than I ever thought that I was getting from him.

But I realized that there is a long history there, but it's just too painful to talk about.

In that sense, I feel like a transplant sometimes, even though I'm seventh generation in Bedford.

And because of that, I wanted to understand people more and connect with them and have a better connection than I did.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: As Mandisa began looking for a connection, she found one in an unexpected place-- a vegetable stand.

When her father-in-law fell ill, she and her husband decided to take care of his family farm.

She planted a garden that grew into a roadside stand, selling vegetables.

MANDISA HORN: I had a little honor system, a little honor box, and I let people come and just pay whatever.

And I was getting notes inside the box, and people were like-- oh, how much they loved it and appreciated it.

And so I felt connected to them.

I didn't even realize that I had a little-- it was like a tiny fan base that was alongside the road.

It was totally anonymous.

But I still felt this connection and wholeness of sharing, and I was just like, God, I could do this forever.

So I just thought I'd continue doing this as a side job, and it ended up becoming a full-time thing.

I ended up turning it into a CSA to kind of get some funds going so I can make it bigger.

And I had the first CSA in Bedford County.

I had up to 50 members before I opened the restaurant.

And it was cool, because people would come to the farm.

And I was making packages for people.

I was planting.

My mother-in-law, she would help and get in there, and we would clean up everything and just package everything so beautiful and stick them in their little boxes.

And it was cool.

And that's whenever real food conversations started happening for me, and a light bulb started kind of going off and just like, man, this is sharing, and this is fulfilling.

And this really feels good.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: This little vegetable stand was Mandisa's first step to connecting to the food community.

For her next step, she went overseas.

MANDISA HORN: When we went to Germany, I had an aha moment there.

And it was when we were hiking up this Saxon Switzerland mountain.

And at the top, there was just some lady with a table, and she had this beautiful bread and sausage.

And it was just cold, but it was so delicious.

I had to chew it, and it was tasty.

It was my first introduction to sourdough bread.

[tribal music] Then when we were in Mexico, we stayed with some native Yaqui Indians.

Yaqui don't eat junk food.

We eat the best meat.

MANDISA HORN: The best meat.

The best meat in the world.

MANDISA HORN: That's true.

That's where they had these mud ovens, and that's when I was just like, what is this?

And can I make sourdough in there?

And the coolest thing about that was standing there with all the women in the village.

They all get together.

They're all congregated.

It's a connection that we all are involved in, patting out these tortilla shells.

I started embracing these other cultures.

It really impressed on me connection with the food and the flavors and then the end result.

Whenever I traveled, I realized that was what they were doing different, is that they were taking time to spend time with the food and not being in a rush.

When I'm working with food, it centers me.

It makes me whole.

And that's why I can relate to people with food, because I'm giving my whole self.

But when you're working with the food, and you're taking the time to do something, it's an investment, and that's what I'm talking about.

These other cultures are investing into their food.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: Mandisa wanted to share what she learned with the people of Bedford.

While in the planning stages of opening a sourdough bakeshop, she learned that there was a historic building for sale only 3 miles from the farm.

MANDISA HORN: I always loved this building, and I also loved the contractor because he was a craftsman.

He did things the long, hard way.

He would take things apart, a building apart, and then reassemble it.

When I realized that this place was for sale, I was like, huh.

I was interested in the building itself because it's so beautiful, and then I was passing it.

I was driving past.

I just saw people dining.

I saw people enjoying food.

And I was like-- in my head.

It wasn't happening.

[laughs] But I saw that, and I thought, someone should do that.

And then I just got this like feeling, I should do that.

I should do that.

So I kind of changed course right then and there.

What's most unique about Horn O Plenty is we try to make everything fresh.

And coming from a chef background, make everything fresh in today's society is very hard in a restaurant business.

So we try to source everything as local as possible, fresh as possible.

We cook everything from scratch.

We try to use the least amount of preservatives as possible.

It's a philosophy of farm to table, and that's one of the most important things I think we do here, is maintaining that integrity of trying to get the most nutrients and vitamins and goodness out of all of this beautiful foods that we can create.

CARLA KAGARISE: We're known for our brick-oven pizzas.

Our Moroccan pulled pork, which is just a blend of seasonings on a nice slow-roasted pork.

Our house-smoked beef brisket is really popular.

We've established many dishes over the years, because we're seasonal.

So lots of farmers are bringing us different things that we have to use up because we don't want it to go bad.

MANDISA HORN: When I opened the restaurant I wanted connection with people.

I wanted to feel a wholeness within the community.

The only time I've ever felt whole was whenever I'm cooking for someone, or I've traveled, and I was with other people that were doing their living, cooking traditions, sharing recipes and talking about food.

So that's why I needed to feel whole and actually be able to talk about a common culture with other people.

And I decided that I could bring what I felt when I was with these other groups of people from all over the world cooking here to Bedford.

I wanted Bedford to experience what I experienced, because it changed me, and I thought that it would help change Bedford.

[music playing] Mandisa, welcome to the Culinary Connections kitchen.

Thank you.

Thanks, Tamra.

Thanks for having me.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: You're welcome.

You have brought an amazing array of fresh vegetables.

So what are we going to make today?

Well, this is towards the end of the season, and so we were going to do fermentations, actually.

I was going to do a fermentation of salsa.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: What exactly is fermentation?

Fermentation is a cultivation of microbial of microbes.

And the reason why we do it is-- I do it for flavor, but also there's a nourishment that comes from this.

The lactobacilli-- this is lacto fermentation, so it's using vegetables and fruits.

And we're making lactic acid, which is really good for the digestive health also.

Sure, sure.

So let's get started.

OK, great.

So first, I have my helper here with me, my daughter, Eva.

Eva, do you want to-- oh, OK.

Yes.

That's OK.

So we have tomatoes that we're going to wash. And do you want to help me wash these?

Yeah.

OK, here's the scrub brush.

Go ahead and start scrubbing.

So what we're doing is-- we just have this nice light-- actually, I think it's silicone-- brush that we're just lightly washing.

We're trying to get the dirt off, but not the good bacteria that's all throughout and inside of our food.

So that's actually what we're going to use to make the fermentation.

Well, it's going to use itself to make the fermentation.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: So is there a special process when you're cutting these up?

Do you try to make them all similar size?

How do you work with that?

Yeah, that is important, and that's a very good question.

It depends on how long you're fermenting.

You can ferment anywhere from five days to months to years in some instances.

But, yeah, if you're doing fruit, fruit is full of sugars, and that's what the lactobacilli uses to create the lactic acid.

And so the more sugar, the more active, the quicker the speed of the fermentation.

OK.

So it may not be five days.

It could be three days if you're doing something with something that's sweet.

So I'm going to have her start chopping tomatoes.

OK Look.

Yes, yes.

Go ahead.

Can you see?

OK. TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: And I know that Eva is four years old.

How long has she been chopping vegetables?

MANDISA HORN: Well, since probably two.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: Oh.

MANDISA HORN: Yeah, she's been chopping vegetables since she's been two.

Yeah.

She helps me all different ways in the kitchen.

Yeah.

And so, yeah, the main idea is if you want a rapid fermentation, you would chop them smaller.

If you want a slower fermentation, you can chop them bigger.

Yeah, so I'm just chopping up the tomatoes until I decide that it's enough tomatoes.

And then same thing with tomatillos.

I'm going to do the same with the peppers.

And I'm just utilizing all parts that I can.

So when you're doing a fermentation, the one thing you want to think about is how much you're going to use, utilize.

So you wouldn't make a big jar like this if you're not going to eat that much salsa in a time frame.

So you can do small batches or large batches.

We do eat a lot of salsa.

Or we have been eating a lot of salsa.

For instance, I was just going to say, we have smaller jars here that we can put things in.

But the important thing is to leave headspace at the top, because fermentation is anaerobic.

It's an anaerobic fermentation.

So in other words, it doesn't utilize oxygen.

When the lactobacilli start eating those sugars, it needs an environment that has no oxygen.

It's alive.

And they're feeding, and they're multiplying.

And there's CO2 being given off.

And so there needs to be space at the top to off gas.

So we have all different kinds of fermentations that we do at the restaurant.

We utilize the kimchi.

That's one of our main ones that we do.

We do sauerkraut.

We make of, course, the sourdough bread.

That's a different kind of fermentation.

That's where it's giving off ethanol, and the yeast is carbon dioxide, where the yeast is utilizing it.

So, yeah, it's just all about good bacteria.

She's over there, eating the peppers.

All right.

Eating the peppers.

Yeah, we encourage taste-testing.

Uh-huh.

I heard you earlier say that Eva has a nice motto, too.

What is that motto you have, Eva, about food?

Oh, yes.

What is that?

You know what you told me earlier?

Always play with your food.

Play with your food.

[laughs] TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: That's a great philosophy.

I think too often we tell our kids not to play with their food.

We should be telling them to play with their food.

It's so true.

They learn dexterity.

They're learning the ingredients.

It's a school.

It's a school full of food.

And, of course, it's also keeping them alive.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: Of course.

So I'm just going to add a little bit of water.

You wanted some of these?

Yes, thank you.

Yeah.

So you can use cilantro, parsley.

I'm just mixing it up.

And I don't want to wash a bowl, so I'm just going to mix it up.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: That's a great idea.

I love it.

The fermentation process has to happen without oxygen.

So we have to put it under a brine.

And during lacto-fermentation, we use salt.

And salt staves off the bad bacteria, bacteria that's harmful, the pathogens that we don't want to eat or consume.

Sure.

So the solution to the brine is around a 2% to 3% salt by weight of the entire ingredients.

OK.

So I'm going to come over here and put this on here, and I'm going to weigh this.

Now, all I'm doing is making a brine to keep all of these delicious vegetables under saltwater.

So I'm going to stop right around there.

I can just look at it and see-- because here's what's going to happen.

There's going to be water that comes from the tomatoes when I add this salt.

So because it's a fruit, and they have a lot of water, I'm going to not go to the clear top with the brine.

Because we're going to be weighing it down, anyway.

So I think that's plenty.

And you can see here, I'm going to go to 0.50.

So now what we're going to do is tear, and we're going to add five-- we're looking for-- there we are.

So right around there.

That's how much salt to use.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: OK. MANDISA HORN: And because lactobacillus is the bacteria that we're looking for, what happens is-- it likes anaerobic, acid, and salty environments.

And we want that.

That's a good bacteria, and that's what lactic acid-- lacto-fermentation.

Anyway, that's what we're looking for here.

Sorry.

So I'm just going to shake this up so it gets in there.

And you can see, it's already kind of a little-- Yeah, those tomatoes are already making juice.

You could tell.

Yes, yeah.

Exactly.

And now, the important thing is to weigh it down.

So now I'm just going to open this up.

I think what I'll do is something like I did right here, which I'll show you.

This is a plastic bag.

So you can just fill up a plastic bag with a solution of the brine, of water and salt, in case it leaks.

And then that weighs down your ingredients and keeps it under.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: So the bag acts as the weight to keep the vegetables under the brine.

Yes, yes.

The bag acts as the weight.

And then the best part is just waiting.

It's time.

It's time, waiting.

There's different stages of salsa.

That's it in a nutshell.

You can ferment any fruit or vegetable this way.

Let's try the salsa.

OK, yes, let's.

This is five days old.

[crunching] What's that?

Mm-hmm.

Well, thank you both so much.

Yeah.

Eva, thank you for coming in.

And also, Mandisa, thank you so much for coming in.

Thank you for having me.

And next, we're going to meet Vern, a very important and very alive member of Hon O Plenty family, the sourdough starter.

Good things take time.

Another thing that takes time?

Fermentation.

This process has been around for thousands of years and is the starting point for many of the creations you can find at Horn O Plenty.

The most notable of these is the sourdough bread.

This sourdough starter is affectionately named Vern, after one of Mandisa's dear friends from Jamaica.

MANDISA HORN: In our restaurant, we have a lot of different fermentations.

Vern is our sourdough starter, and she's 14 years old.

And all it is flour and water and a continuous mindful ritual of feeding her daily.

So why we use fermentation in our restaurant is, for one, a lot of times it just preserves.

And, for instance, with our sourdough starter, we use it because it actually keeps our bread soft and supple for longer.

It gives a nice flavor, and also there's probiotics.

Fermentation is a byproduct of a breakdown in a specific substance.

We use fermentation in our operation daily.

With the kombucha, it's a bacteria that actually creates the bubble, the carbonation, in the drink.

In the yogurt, for instance, we use it with the milk, and it metabolizes the sugar.

It eats the sugar in the milk and becomes thick and gives it the flavor.

And for the sourdough, the byproduct is actually the gases, which help the sourdough rise.

Fermentation is a process that takes time, and it builds gases and bacteria, good bacteria, for the foods that we eat.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: Whether it's fermentation, heating up the oven, or finding what makes you whole, one thing is for certain when it comes to Horn O Plenty restaurant-- good things take time.

Thanks for watching this season of Culinary Connections.

We've had a great time making it for you.

Here's a special behind-the-scenes look.

See, I didn't know how to run a restaurant, but it turned out that it is just like being in a band-- the talent behind the bar, the creativity behind making a cocktail.

It's very similar to a musician putting the notes together, putting the instruments together.

So it's a very creative process.

[music playing] We couldn't think of a name that we liked or that clicked.

We were on a Zoom call with her aunt and uncle.

When we were talking, Franco was there, and he was like, What about "The Cake Shop"?

And I was like, oh, that sounds good.

And we were both in a Zoom call, and we're like, yeah, that sounds good.

I like it.

Saved us a lot of time and trouble.

TATIANA: Yeah.

And Franco is like, yeah, The Cake Shop by Tati.

I was like, mm, yeah.

That sounds good.

[music playing] MAN: One of the things that I like to do is to use edible flowers as a garnish on all the plates.

It's nice that we have a local connection.

[music playing] MANDISA HORN: The more you spend time with the food, the better it tastes.

And that's where the love is.

It's on the plate.

That love is on the plate.

And when someone eats it, there's a story on the plate.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: I'm Tamra Fatemi-Badi.

Thanks for watching Culinary Connections.

PRESENTER: Culinary Connections is supported in part by The Rockwell Foundation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, supporting the arts, science, technology, and education and a proud supporter of local programs on WPSU.

TAMRA FATEMI-BADI: More episodes of Culinary Connections and a full menu of local programs are available at video.wpsu.org or on the PBS app.

And to experience a whole world of international cuisine, check out World Kitchen at wpsu.org/worldkitchen.

[music playing] [audio logo]