The Art of Fermentation: An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from around the World

4.5, but dinged for a ridiculous anti-science statement near the end.

This book is full to the brim of great information about fermentation - both theoretical and practical - and recipes. If you are at all interested in home cooking, indigenous or traditional cooking or even just the history and geography of food and cooking, you'll find this book interesting.

The hippiness of it might turn some off, but, while I found it a little distracting it didn't detract significantly from the book.

The statement that really irked me was near the end as was something to the effect that scientifically gained knowledge of the microscopic world had drained it of wonder. Variations of this have been flogged by many people. This is a demonstrably false show more and ridiculous statement - doubly since since the author draws on this same scientific knowledge throughout the book. Plenty of people find wonder in exactly these same scientific details about how life at all scales functions.

If knowledge robs something of its wonder, Mr. Katz, it does so for you and not in general. And that's an indication of your inability to choose to see the wonder from a different angle and in a different light, not the fault of science or scientists. show less

I love Sandor Katz. Love. His writing is engaging, familiar, and yet pushes you ever so subtly towards new truths. This is not a cover-to-cover book; I'm jumping all over the place in it. But if you liked his first book, "Wild Fermentation," you'll love this one too.

An outstanding resource on all things fermentation. The author makes the microbiology available and accessible, but he also captures the enjoyment of process as well. In my experience, the guide is really meant to be used in the company of a community of fermenters, each with their own variations of recipes and starter cultures. This is good for those of you with local communities of like-minded experimenters. For the rest of us, there’s always the internet.

Fascinating look at a wide variety of fermentation, not just for eating and drinking but things like compost too. Sometimes felt that the research or information wasn't thorough enough, for example for ginger beer, Katz says you can use kombucha as a starter - however it is a different culture entirely to the ginger beer plant.

I enjoyed reading this book and am excited to try more ferments. Mi have fermented pickles and made yogurt for years but this book opens up the possibility for much more. A note, though. This is not a recipe book as such. It does have a few recipes but it is more what I would call a 'how-to' guide, explaining concepts, general instructions and some pitfalls.

This seems like quite an outstanding resource. I read enough to know that I will probably never find time to do any of it.

This is a very comprehensive volume on the practices of fermentation. Covers the food preservation aspects, potential health benefits, yet provides detailed enough information to do it yourself, including cautions. Covers everything from how to process vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy products to meats and eggs. The author relates both the history and modern practices, based on a combination of his own experience and extensive research/collaboration with people from around the world. A true reference, but is easy to read.