Elizabeth Vecchiarelli, owner and founder of Preserved, has over 15 years of experience with local, sustainable and handmade food. Partway through her food career, Elizabeth began to desire a more intimate connection with the food and beverages she loved, so she embarked on a journey to learn how they were made. She started (literally) from the ground up, learning sustainable farming practices through the work-travel organization, World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. Preserving the harvest from her urban garden was a natural next step. Inspired by Sandor Katz’s book, Wild Fermentation, she was soon experimenting with the alchemy of fermentation.

Through a combination of formal training, insatiable curiosity and extensive home experimentation, Elizabeth continued to explore the flavors and health benefits of traditionally-preserved foods, beverages and herbal medicines. She interned with the Teutonic Wine Company in Oregon, where she learned how wine can be made naturally using only ambient yeasts. She learned to make yogurt and fresh cheese at home, then leveled up to making aged raw cheeses at Garden Variety Cheese Company in Watsonville, CA.  

Driven by a desire to understand why traditional preservation methods nourish our bodies as well as our taste buds, she studied Holistic Nutrition at Bauman College in Berkeley, California.  

Elizabeth continues to be driven by the desire to learn, create and share the joys and health benefits of traditional culinary techniques at Preserved. Opening Preserved has allowed her to continue exploring preservation techniques and to share these ancient practices with her community. Not only are we preserving food, but together we are preserving tradition.

Favorite Ferments: Honey Fermented Garlic, Curtido-Kraut & Preserved Kumquats