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Wild Fermentation, a book review, a giveaway, and a surprise!

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Wild Fermentation Book Review

Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods by Sandor Ellix Katz wasn’t exactly what I was expecting when I bought it. I picked it up looking for a few new ideas for putting up things from the garden, but ended up coming away with a new appreciation for lacto-fermentation and the human spirit (not exactly easy to find in one book). Mr. Katz is living with full blown AIDS, he lets the reader know this early on in the book, and he relates anecdotes about his journey with his sickness and his love for all things fermented. He paints a compelling picture of fermentation as one of mankind’s oldest forms of food preservation and one of it’s healthiest. He makes the case for the many beneficial micro-organisms that are present in fermented foods. He also gets mad props from me for living in Tennesse in an off-grid community. This book was a pleasant surprise for me as I thought I was getting a how-to book but also ended up getting a good story also. By the end I felt an attachment for Mr. Katz and was happy to find that he is still living and fermenting like mad! If you have an interest in learning a bit more about pickling, fermenting, or making yogurt or cheese this is a book for you.

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Comments

  28. I heard a lot of good things about that book. Thanks for the review (and giveaway)!

    Also,

    I’ll take it.

  32. I will take it!! I first read about wild yeast when I was learning to make bread 30 yrs ago. I still would love to learn how to capture wild yeast and make a real natural loaf of bread!

  56. ” I’ll take it” this would be perfect for me. I have just started making cheese with cultures and my friend said I should start making my own fermented veggies. This would give me everything I need to get started.

  71. I’ll take it!!!! Fermenting foods is the very next food preservation project I want to do :D. I understand from other sources how healthy they are for us, and your review is intriguing because you mention this book includes the history of it. I’ve made Mead, Melomels and Metheglins both because I needed to find more to do with my harvest, but also because I was so rapt by the history of it. What great fun!