Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods

`Wild Fermentation' by Sandor Ellix Katz appears like a living fossil of the sixties counterculture, surfacing after forty years of being both shaped and scarred by the currents and tides of the last forty years. The author is a member of a very sixties hippie influenced rural community whose lifestyle seems to be grown directly from the soil laid down by `The Whole Earth Catalogue', `Easy Rider', `Alice's Restaurant', and the Hog Farm, but without any trace of the Merry Pranksters' antics or inclinations towards mind-altering drugs. The shaping of the last forty years is seen in the author's being HIV positive AIDs infected young man with a major interest in sharing his passion for fermented foods with the rest of the world through modern publishing and scholarly rigor. Fermented food products are probably much more common in our lives today than they have been since the advent of the processed foods industry. And, this is a fact that even the average foodie may not be conscious. A quick inventory of fermented foods commonly used in modern American homes will show how widespread they have become. The most obvious fermented product is beer, which has always been with us. Their cousins, wines and meads are also the product of fermentation. Virtually all cheeses are produced by fermentation, and our interest in and consumption of artisinal cheeses is rising fast. Yogurt is a close cousin of cheeses and consumption of yogurt has been rising since the early seventies. Sauerkraut and Choucroute have been with us since the beginning, but Asian fermented cabbage such as Kimchee and other fermented vegetables are becoming more popular. Pickles have also been a part of western cuisine for millennia Another part of the increasing interest in Asian foods is an increase in consumption of miso and tempeh, both from fermented soybeans. Asian fermented fish sauces from Thailand and Vietnam are also much more common today than they were 50 years ago. The granddaddy of fermented foods for Western cultures is yeast bread, especially sourdough breads. Fermentation has at least four beneficial results, two of which have been known since prehistoric times. The first and most important effect is that fermentation is a method of natural preservation by the creation of acetic acid (acid in vinegar) or lactic acid (acid from milk sugar). The second, represented most clearly by the brewing of beer, is in the action of microorganisms on sugars to produce ethanol (alcohol in beer, wine, and liquor). The third is based on our physiological salivation response to acidic foods, or even the anticipation of acidic foods, thereby making the mouth feel of these foods more succulent by the combination of natural food moisture and our own saliva. Ancients may have sensed the last beneficial result, but it probably has not been fully realized until the 20th century. This is the ability of fermentation to break down foods which were hard to digest into different products which are both easier to digest and more nutritious. The two best examples of this action are the conversion of soy carbohydrates into miso and the conversion of milk into yogurt. All of this has made fermentation into a darling of vegan advocates, as it broadens the range of useable non-animal protein and makes it all more palatable. It has also made fermentation into a favorite of alternate lifestyle nutritionists such as Sally Fallon, the author of the excellent book `Nourishing Traditions' who supplied a Foreword to this book. Fermentation is also one of the hallmarks of the slow food movement. Aside from the North African method for preserving lemons, I know of no other culinary methods that take as long to complete. Anyone who has made pickles, sourdough bread, or beer should have a very good idea of the times involved in fermentation. And this doesn't even get into some of the olfactory `delights' that accompany the process of fermentation. The author covers all of the types of fermentation mentioned above, devoting the greatest amount of space to vegetable, bean, and dairy fermentation. Bakers should not miss the lesser attention paid to breads, as for every book on yogurt, pickles, and kraut, there are ten books which cover artisinal baking with its sourdough sponges, poolishs, and begas. On the political front, the most active issue regarding fermentation is the issue of unpasteurized cheeses being imported into or made in the United States. It is truly ironic that the home of Louis Pasteur relishes their raw cheeses while the squeaky-clean US won't let it in. Aside from the thoroughly careful presentation the author gives of his material, the veracity of the book is strengthened by the extensively footnoted research behind his statements and the fact that the fruits of fermentation are essential to the lifestyle of the author and his comrades at their rural homestead. The similarity to both the hippie counterculture doctrines and the Amish lifestyle are unmistakable. One would almost take them for being scions of the Amish except for the names cited in the acknowledgments that I found myself checking against the names of the communities' goats. We owe this book in part to humans who go by the names Echo, Nettles, Leopard, Orchid, Spark, Book Mark, and Ravel Weaver. I also thank Echo, Nettles, Leopard, et al and author Sandor Ellis Katz for this deeply thought out exposition of a pervasive and growing part of the modern culinary and nutritional environment. This book may not be for everyone, or even for every foodie, but if anything I said sounds a chord in your psyche, I recommend you get a copy of this book and read it carefully.

As a germ-a-phobe, I had a real fear of fermenting, but kept hearing over and over the benefit of fermented foods. Skim the mold off and eat the rest? NOOooooooo! I grew up on American cheese and a household mantra of 'When in doubt, throw it out'. After the name of the author kept coming up while researching the topic, I finally bought this book. It did so much more than provide recipes. He explains everything so clearly and completely that the fear begins to dissipate. This book is about courage. Courage in foods and in life. And here's the thing...I wanted simple, safe recipes that I could read and execute. Not interested in any history or anecdotes. Yet I read this book cover to cover the first time I opened it. There is a reason why 'Wild Fermentation' is wildly popular. Actually, MANY reasons. It is down-to-earth, in every way. And so many of the recipes are, or can be adapted, to small amounts. Very pleased with this book, and if you have an interest in health, good food, recipes, or just enjoy a good read, chances are you'll enjoy it as well.

from the moment you open it, you can tell he is passionate about everything he says, and also very well-informed on the subject. he begins with relevant history (which i happened to find mostly new to me and very interesting). his writing style is something i have wanted to find in a book like this - he adds bits and pieces of his own personal anecdotes, which make this a wonderful integration of recipes/history/philosophy/self-help/biography before i bought this book, i read many of the other reviews. i especially always read the negative ones. most of the one star reviews i read basically say that he is trying to push his own agenda onto people, and one that i read complains extensively about how much he supposedly refers to the topic of gayness in the book. so....having now read it for myself....i am a little scared of the people who wrote those reviews. Not once- not ONCE have i read anything about his gayness in the book. honestly, even if he mentioned it- that would not bother me, but to claim such a thing when he does not even bring it up....that weirds me out. it is really well-written and full of important information, and like the back says "it is a 'cultural manifesto' that explores the history and politics of human nutrition". he does this with an open, informative and nonjudgmental attitude, which is probably why it really ticks me off to read those reviews that claim that he is "pushing an agenda."

This is a very informative book about fermenting foods the old fashioned way. It runs the gamut from vegetables, to breads, to grains and porridge, and in between. There's a bit of history which I didn't read much of yet because I was excited to get to the useful stuff, but will be interested in reading through later. Some information about the health benefits of fermented foods too. This is not a scientific or precise manual. This is great for adventurous and intuitive cooks who like to try things and see what happens. There are recipes, but sometimes you have to use your brain and figure out the best methods for your specific situation. I've done porridge, dosas, improved my bean cooking methods, and made 2 loaves of bread from my own sourdough starter so far.

Sandor consegue como poucos ,explicar sobre um assunto que esta entre nós desde os primórdios da humanidade . Receitas muito didáticas e deliciosas !!!

I love this book, it really taught me that fermenting things is not scary, it's not difficult, and you don't have to have precision super powers, like so many home brew style books and kits would make you believe.

This book is an excellent resource for wild fermenting and I have returned to it time and again. Read the book as if it were a book FIRST - then try out some of the easier recipes and do not become too overwhelmed by all of the information that the book provides. I have been making kimchis/various vegetable sauerkrauts/rubens for years and I use this incredibly well-written book to try out new ways of making a variety of different things. This is the best book I have come across for wild fermentation. I highly recommend it.

Sehr zufrieden. Ich hätte aber lieber bunte Bilder und manchmal mehr Details. Da Sandor aber von den Amerikaner so empfohlen wurde wollte ich natürlich nur das.

Premetto che sono un cuoco professionista, a me è risultato molto utile per approfondire l'argomento e per imparare centinaia di nozioni nuove. Se volete iniziare a fare robe più spinte vi consiglio di comprarlo, non fatevi spaventare dalla lingua inglese, con un traduttore risolvete tutto, le varie preparazioni sono suddivise quindi se siete interessati a una particolare ricetta vi basta tradurla singolarmente.