books:

	Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods Sandor Ellix Katz Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2003 - 200 pages average customer review:based on 53 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The recipes provide a veritable smorgasbord of tastes, like homemade tempeh, sauerkraut, and borscht, along with a basic description of yogurt and cheese-making, complete with vegan alternatives. Whether you prefer to wash down your meal with Elderberry wine or Nepalese rice beer, there's something here to satisfy any palate.

Katz, a leading expert on the history of these foods, has written a revolutionary and informative culinary guide he calls "a cultural manifesto." He has experimented with many forms of fermentation and has developed and collected a wide range of techniques and recipes from around the world.

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The Health Superstar

This is a wonderful book for anyone who is interested in building their health to a high level. Sandor Katz writes in a fun, insightful way, to bring the history and health giving properties to this subject, and all the ways to produce fermented foods. As a person who does ferment a few foods, I am now inspired to expand my ferments. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is curious about the health benefits of fermented foods.


Fascinating revelation about fermented food

It's amazing how much is going on in the air around us and how we can learn to benefit by using what He has provided to nourish our bodies. And it's fun too! Enjoy!

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Fantastic resource and interesting read

The purpose of this book is not really to be a cookbook. There are recipes given, but they're only half (or less) of the thrust of the work. Katz tries to impart to the reader a visceral feel for how fermentation works and his philosophy of food and nature; to do this, he illustrates the book liberally with examples from his own life. Katz encourages the reader to experiment and create new and exciting dishes.

One doesn't have to live on a communal farm or practice an "alternative lifestyle" to enjoy and learn from this book -- an interest in food preparation and an open mind are all that are required to start enjoying delicious homemade ferments.

Aside from the practical information (the reason I bought the book) it's enjoyable to read on its own. Katz' style is gentle and unassuming, if slightly rambling. All in all, this is a fantastic introduction to the world of fermentation.

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Changed the way I look at food preservation

I LOVE this book. I've made vinegar pickles in the usual way, but lactic fermantation made me nervous (Really? No vinegar? Won't it spoil?). Sandor's explanation of the whys and history of lactic fermentation really opened my eyes- and, even putting all the myriad health benefits aside, lactic fermentation is SO much tastier than vinegar pickling.

This book is a great compliment to my favorite pickling recipe book, "The Joy of Pickling" by Linda Zeidrich. Sandor's book is not exactly a recipe book. If you happen to knit, I'd say that Sandor is the Elizabeth Zimmermann of fermenting- like her, he believes that improvisation is the very heart of being human. If you're uncomfortable improvising, lots of traditional pickling recipes can be made via lactic- simply omit the vinegar. So far, both my improvisational and recipe'd results have been extrordinary.

There are a lot of complaints in the reviews that Sandor inserts too much politics into this book. Deal with it- food IS political. If you're a christianist wing-nut, you'll no doubt hate this book. But if you're a proud liberal or a thoughtful moderate, you'll probably cheer like I did-- go Sandor go! I really look forward to reading his other books.

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Wonderful information but cloaked in uncomfortable draping...

This book really is wonderful in its coverage of fermentation recipes. My kitchen is brimming with them at the moment. I have millet porridge, saurkraut, kimchi, sour dough starter, kefir, and yogurt all going right now. If you want to find recipes that are simple and inexpensive then this is a great book. If you are at all uncomfortable about alternative lifestyles, however, you may not be able to stomach this book. I accidentally bought two and was going to give the extra to my mother in law, but I knew she wouldn't probably appreciate it. I ended up returning the extra copy. The author has AIDS and lives in a queer commune where they call themselves faeries and does go into some depth about his lifestyle. If you are ok with this then it would be a great book for you.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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