Comment concerning sauerkraut: I have been ordering from an organic
farm in Vermont – www.wellspringfarmvt.com
for years. Sauerkraut contains
natural probiotics needed for digestion. Most people do not know how to eat
it. My favorite way and it always
wins them over: I take one of my
fresh baked whole wheat sandwich rolls, slice open, top both sides with kraut,
sprinkle a small amount of organic herb Colby cheese and pop under broiler just
long enough to melt cheese (this keeps from destroying all natural enzymes)
then pour on little olive oil and enjoy.
It’s a winner.
-----Original Message-----
From:
market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org]
On Behalf Of Alliums
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2003
5:20 PM
To: community_garden AT mallorn.com
Subject: [Market-farming] Book
Review: Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Cultured
Foods
Hi, Folks!
Now that the garlic is planted, I have time to review books again. I
retain copywrite and if you use the review in another publication, you must
send me a copy of the publication it appears in, but otherwise, enjoy!
No one gets rich in either agriculture or book reviewing, but hey, at least it
keeps me busy! ;-D
Dorene
Wild Fermentation:
The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Cultured Foods by
Sandor Ellix Katz, Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2003. ISBN:
1-931498-23-7, $25.00.
One spring, not too long ago, I stepped into the cooler at Camphill Village
Kimberton Hills and was blocked by a wall of green. The entire cooler,
floor to ceiling, was jammed with flawless heads of Bok Choi.
“I see you have a little bok choi problem,” I mentioned to the lead
CSA grower in the main office. He shrugged. ‘We grow it, the
CSA members don’t take it, the food bank doesn’t know what to do with
it, it becomes compost.”
Most small growers have a bok choi problem – and a turnip, radish, beet,
cabbage, kale, and insect-bitten fruit problem! We grow it, the
nutritionists encourage everyone to consume it, but on market day or during CSA
pick-ups, somehow the brassicas remain alone, their stacks nearly untouched
while everyone scrambles for the last tomato or watermelon.
We feel guilty – these hardy plants flourish in uncertain weather and
nourished our ancestors in both New World and Old. We page through brining
recipes in old Pennsylvania Dutch cookbooks, but the details are too sketchy to
reproduce. We read the “Pickles” section of preservation
guides from Rodale and Farm Journal, but the “contraindications” lists
scare us from even trying lactofermentation.
“Humans,” says Katz, “have been fermenting longer than
we’ve been writing words or cultivating the soil. Anyone can do it,
anywhere, with the most basic tools.” And so Katz takes us gently by the
hand and guides us through the world of fermentation: vegetable krauts and
kimchis, sourdough breads and pancakes, miso and tempeh, yogurt and cheeses,
and beers, wines, and meads.
The strength of this book is not in “completeness” (there are more
comprehensive books on yogurt/cheese and beer/wine/mead) but in showing those
of us who love food that we can transform our excess into storable, tasty and
nutritious dishes to feed ourselves rather than our compost. Katz deals
upfront with our fears about food poisoning and “mistakes,” then
explains each technique with humor, insight and the experience of a decade
fermenting foods, then feeding them to his compatriots at Short Mountain
Sanctuary in Tennessee.
Like compost making, fermentation is both art and science. One can buy starters
(yeast for wine and bacteria for compost) to produce a “standard”
product, but Katz, in his quest for unique flavors and ease of preparation,
advocates going “wild” – creating the conditions for
beneficial microorganisms to colonize, then grow in a desired medium. His
bright, informative essays on the importance of microbial biodiversity in our
diet mirror what we have learned about compost. The difference (and the joy!)
of fermentation is that this time, we’re using microbes to nourish us,
rather than our plants and soil.
Katz’s desire to help others learn the craft of fermentation shines
throughout this book. While the techniques are straightforward and the
equipment basic, he provides an appendix listing sources for starter cultures
and equipment, endnote citations for each chapter, a bibliography for further
reading and a website, http://www.wildfermentation.com/
which answers fermentation questions and provides links to other fermentation
sites and discussion lists on the Web.
Cultivate community, both microbial and human, by taking this book, a few
food-grade plastic buckets, some sharp knives, salt, cabbage and your
CSA’s membership to make sauerkraut. Earn the eternal goodwill of
your local farmer by buying up all of their turnips at the end of market day to
make sauerruben. Boldly make “country wine” from the plums
the curculio found before you did. Fermentation is transformation; from
perishable abundance to storable foodstuff that nourishes human and microorganism
when they learn to work together.
Reviewed by Dorene Pasekoff, Coordinator
St. John’s United Church of Christ Organic Community Garden
Phoenixville, PA
St. John's United Church of Christ Organic Community Garden