The art of fermentation: an in-depth exploration of essential concepts and processes from around the world

Table of Contents

ch. 1 Fermentation as a Coevolutionary Force
Bacteria: Our Ancestors and Coevolutionary Partners
Fermentation and Culture
Fermentation and Coevolution
Fermentation as a Natural Phenomenon
The War on Bacteria
Cultivating a Biophilic Consciousness

ch. 2 Practical Benefits of Fermentation
The Preservation Benefits of Fermentation, and Their Limits
The Health Benefits of Fermented Foods
Fermentation as a Strategy for Energy Efficiency
The Extraordinary Flavors of Fermentation

ch. 3 Basic Concepts and Equipment
Substrates and Microbial Communities
Wild Fermentation Versus Culturing
Selective Environments
Community Evolution and Succession
Cleanliness and Sterilization
Cross-Contamination
Water
Salt
Darkness and Sunlight
Fermentation Vessels
Jar Method
Crock Method
Crock Lids
Different Crock Designs
Metal Vessels
Plastic Vessels
Wooden Vessels
Canoa
Contents note continued: Gourds and Other Fruits as Fermentation Vessels
Baskets
Pit Fermentation
Pickle Presses
Vegetable Shredding Devices
Pounding Tools
Alcohol-Making Vessels and Air Locks
Siphons and Racking
Bottles and Bottling
Hydrometers
Thermometers
Cider and Grape Presses
Grain mills
Steamers
Incubation Chambers
Curing Chambers
Temperature Controllers
Masking Tape and Markers

ch. 4 Fermenting Sugars into Alcohol: Meads, Wines, and Ciders
Yeast
Simple Mead
Botanical Enhancements to Mead: T'ej and Baalche
Fruit and Flower Meads
Simple and Short Versus Dry and Aged
Continuous Starter Method
Herbal Elixir Meads
Wine from Grapes
Cider and Perry
Sugar-Based Country Wines
Alcoholic Beverages from Other Concentrated Sweeteners
Fermented Fruit Salads
Plant Sap Ferments
Carbonating Alcoholic Beverages
Mixed Source Legacy
Troubleshooting
Contents note continued: ch. 5 Fermenting Vegetables (and Some Fruits Too)
Lactic Acid Bacteria
Vitamin C and Fermented Vegetables
Kraut-Chi Basics
Chop
Salt: Dry-Salting Versus Brining
Pounding or Squeezing Vegetables (or Soaking in a Brine)
Pack
How Long to Ferment?
Surface Molds and Yeasts
Which Vegetables Can Be Fermented?
Spicing
Sauerkraut
Kimchi
Chinese Pickling
Indian Pickling
Fermenting Hot Sauce, Relishes, Salsas, Chutneys, and Other Condiments
Himalayan Gundruk and Sinki
Considerations for Salt-Free Vegetable Ferments
Brining
Sour Pickles
Brining Mushrooms
Brining Olives
Dilly Beans
Lactic Acid Fermentations of Fruit
Kawal
Adding Starters to Vegetable Ferments
Liquid Forms of Vegetable Ferments: Beet and Lettuce Kvass, Cultured Cabbage Juice, Kaanji, and Salgam Suyu
Tsukemono: Japanese Pickling Styles
Cooking with Fermented Vegetables
Laphet (Fermented Tea Leaves)
Contents note continued: Troubleshooting

ch. 6 Fermenting Sour Tonic Beverages
Carbonation
Ginger Beer with Ginger Bug
Kvass
Tepache and Alua
Mabi/​Mauby
Water Kefir (aka Tibicos)
Whey as a Starter
Roots Beer
Pru
Sweet Potato Fly
Inventive Soda Flavors
Smreka
Noni
Kombucha: Panacea or Peril?
Making Kombucha
Kombucha Candy: Nata
Jun
Vinegar
Shrub

ch. 7 Fermenting Milk
Raw Milk: Microbiology and Politics
Simple Clabbering
Yogurt
Kefir
Viili
Other Milk Cultures
Plant Origins of Milk Cultures
Creme Fraiche, Butter, and Buttermilk
Whey
Cheese
Factory Versus Farmstead Cheesemaking
Non-Dairy Milks, Yogurts, and Cheeses

ch. 8 Fermenting Grains and Starchy Tubers
Engrained Patterns
Soaking Grains
Sprouting
Rejuvelac
Porridges
Fermenting Oatmeal
Grits/​Polenta
Atole Agrio
Millet Porridge
Sorghum Porridge
Rice Congee
Contents note continued: Old Bread Porridge
Potato Porridge
Poi
Cassava
South American Cassava Breads
Fermenting Potatoes
Sourdough: Starting One and Maintaining It
Flatbreads/​Pancakes
Sourdough Bread
Sour Rye Porridge Soup (Zur)
Sierra Rice
Hoppers/​Appam
Kishk and Keckek el Fouqara
Fermenting Grains with Other Kinds of Foods
Fermenting Leftover Grains (and Starchy Tubers)

ch. 9 Fermenting Beers and Other Grain-Based Alcoholic Beverages
Wild Yeast Beers
Tesguino
Sorghum Beer
Merissa (Sudanese Toasted Sorghum Beer)
Asian Rice Brews
Basic Rice Beer
Sweet Potato Makgeolli
Millet Tongba
Sake
Malting Barley
Simple Opaque Barley Beer
Cassava and Potato Beers
Beyond Hops: Beers with Other Herbs and Botanical Additives
Distillation

ch. 10 Growing Mold Cultures
Incubation Chambers for Growing Molds
Making Tempeh
Cooking with Tempeh
Propagating Tempeh Spores
Contents note continued: Making Koji
Amazake
Plant Sources of Mold Cultures

ch. 11 Fermenting Beans, Seeds, and Nuts
Cultured Seed and/​or Nut Cheeses, Pates, and Milks
Acorns
Coconut Oil
Cacao, Coffee, and Vanilla Fermentation
Spontaneous Fermentation of Beans
Idli/​Dosa/​Dhokla/​Khaman
Acaraje (Afro-Brazilian Fritters of Fermented Black-Eyed Peas)
Soybeans
Miso
Using Miso
Soy Sauce
Fermented Soy "Nuggets": Hamanatto and Douchi
Natto
Dawadawa and Related West African Fermented Seed Condiments
Fermenting Tofu

ch. 12 Fermenting Meat, Fish, and Eggs
Drying, Salting, Smoking, and Curing
Dry-Curing Basics
Brining: Corned Beef and Tongue
Dry-Cured Sausages
Fish Sauce
Pickled Fish
Fermenting Fish with Grains
Filipino Burong Isda and Balao-Balao
Japanese Nare Zushi
Fermenting Fish and Meat in Whey, Sauerkraut, and Kimchi
Fermenting Eggs
Cod Liver Oil
Contents note continued: Burying Fish and Meat
High Meat
Meat and Fish Ethics

ch. 13 Considerations for Commercial Enterprises
Consistency
First Steps
Scaling Up
Codes, Regulations, and Licensing
Different Business Models: Farm-Based Operations, Diversification, and Specialization

ch. 14 Non-Food Applications of Fermentation
Agriculture
Bioremediation
Waste Management
Disposal of Human Bodies
Fiber and Building Arts
Energy Production
Medicinal Applications of Fermentation
Fermentation for Skin Care and Aromatherapy
Fermentation Art.
Foreword /​ by Michael Pollan

Winner of the 2013 James Beard Foundation Book Award for Reference and Scholarship, and a New York Times bestseller, The Art of Fermentation is the most comprehensive guide to do-it-yourself home fermentation ever published. Sandor Katz presents the concepts and processes behind fermentation in ways that are simple enough to guide a reader through their first experience making sauerkraut or yogurt, and in-depth enough to provide greater understanding and insight for experienced practitioners.

While Katz expertly contextualizes fermentation in terms of biological and cultural evolution, health and nutrition, and even economics, this is primarily a compendium of practical information—how the processes work; parameters for safety; techniques for effective preservation; troubleshooting; and more.

With two-color illustrations and extended resources, this book provides essential wisdom for cooks, homesteaders, farmers, gleaners, foragers, and food lovers of any kind who want to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation for arguably the oldest form of food preservation, and part of the roots of culture itself.

Readers will find detailed information on fermenting vegetables; sugars into alcohol (meads, wines, and ciders); sour tonic beverages; milk; grains and starchy tubers; beers (and other grain-based alcoholic beverages); beans; seeds; nuts; fish; meat; and eggs, as well as growing mold cultures, using fermentation in agriculture, art, and energy production, and considerations for commercial enterprises. Sandor Katz has introduced what will undoubtedly remain a classic in food literature, and is the first—and only—of its kind.

https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/the-art-of-fermentation/