The Art of Fermentation

An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from around the World Winner of the 2013 James Beard Foundation Book Award for Reference andScholarship, and a New York Times bestseller, The Art of Fermentation is themost comprehensive guide to do-it-yourself home fermentation everpublished. Sandor Katz presents the concepts and processes behindfermentation in ways that are simple enough to guide a reader through theirfirst experience making sauerkraut or yogurt, and in-depth enough to providegreater understanding and insight for experienced practitioners. While Katz expertly contextualizes fermentation in terms of biological andcultural evolution, health and nutrition, and even economics, this is primarilya compendium of practical information—how the processes work; parametersfor safety; techniques for effective preservation; troubleshooting; and more. With two-colour illustrations and extended resources, this book providesessential wisdom for cooks, homesteaders, farmers, gleaners, foragers, andfood lovers of any kind who want to develop a deeper understanding andappreciation for arguably the oldest form of food preservation, and part of theroots of culture itself. Readers will find detailed information on fermenting vegetables; sugars intoalcohol (meads, wines, and ciders); sour tonic beverages; milk; grains andstarchy tubers; beers (and other grain-based alcoholic beverages); beans;seeds; nuts; fish; meat; and eggs, as well as growing mould cultures, usingfermentation in agriculture, art, and energy production, and considerationsfor commercial enterprises. Sandor Katz has introduced what willundoubtedly remain a classic in food literature, and is the first—and only—ofits kind. About Sandor Ellix KatzSandor Ellix Katz is a fermentation revivalist. A self-taughtexperimentalist who lives in rural Tennessee, his explorations infermentation developed out of overlapping interests in cooking, nutrition, andgardening. This book, originally published in 2003, along with hisThe Art of Fermentation (2012) and the hundreds of fermentation workshops hehas taught around the world, have helped to catalyze a broad revival of thefermentation arts. Newsweek called Wild Fermentation "the fermenting Bible,"and The New York Times calls Sandor “one of the unlikely rock stars of theAmerican food scene.” For more information, check out his website.