Art of Fermentation (eBook)

lt;p>Sandor Ellix Katz is a fermentation revivalist. A self-taught experimentalist who lives in rural Tennessee, his explorations in fermentation developed out of overlapping interests in cooking, nutrition, and gardening. He is the author of Wild Fermentation and The Art of Fermentation, which was a New York Times bestseller and won a James Beard Foundation award in 2013--as well as the forthcoming Fermentation as Metaphor (October 2020). The hundreds of fermentation workshops he has taught around the world have helped catalyze a broad revival of the fermentation arts. The New York Times calls Sandor “one of the unlikely rock stars of the American food scene.” For more information, check out his website www.wildfermentation.com.

1. Fermentation as a Coevolutionary Force

2. Practical Benefits of Fermentation

3. Basic Concepts and Equipment

4. Fermenting Sugars into Alcohol: Meads, Wines, and Ciders

5. Fermenting Vegetables (and Some Fruits Too)

6. Fermenting Sour Tonic Beverages

7. Fermenting Milk

8. Fermenting Grains and Starchy Tubers

9. Fermenting Beers and Other Grain-Based Alcoholic Beverages

10. Growing Mold Cultures

11. Fermenting Beans, Seeds, and Nuts

12. Fermenting Meat, Fish, and Eggs

13. Considerations for Commercial Enterprises

14. Non-Food Applications of Fermentation

Epilogue: A Cultural Revivalist Manifesto

lt;p>Library Journal-

This is not a line-by-line recipe cookbook, but it contains detailed instructions on fermenting (or creating via fermentation) nearly every imaginable food or beverage. After a foreword by Michael Pollan, Katz ("Wild Fermentation") explores the scientific basis of fermentation, then gives details for creating everything from yogurts to prosciutto to wines, beer, and kombucha. He emphasizes how fermentation influenced human development. Used to preserve food, it affected human biology so that humans could eat foods that would be poisonous otherwise, and it had an impact on global human culture as a reflection of indigenous cultural identity. Simply put, fermentation allows lactic acid bacteria naturally found in the air to overcome and exclude bacteria that are harmful to humans, and it increases advantageous chemical compounds, such as vitamins, in the process. There is a generous photo section of tools, containers, and processes; along with fascinating electron microscope photos of bacteria, which convey a sense of wonder at the unseen world of fermentation. VERDICT: Katz takes fermentation down to the molecular level while keeping it conversational and accessible to the generalist. Fermentation foodies will be ecstatic.