Wild Fermentation

Sandor Ellix Katz

For the Media

Press Release

September 1, 2003
For Immediate Release:

Contact: Jon-Mikel Gates at jgates@chelseagreen.com, 802-295-6300, ext. 111.

“In the spirit of the great reformers and artists, Sandor Katz has labored mightily to deliver this opus magnum to a population hungry for a reconnection to real food, and to the process of life itself. ” —Sally Fallon, author of Nourishing Traditions, from the Foreword

“Wild Fermentation takes readers on a tour of fermented foods from around the globe—many of them delicacies available at Zabar’s—and describes techniques for making them at home. For me the book was a nostalgic journey, reminding me of traditional foods I knew in my childhood, which are rarely found today. This is a book that will fascinate and inspire food lovers." —Saul Zabar, owner of Zabar's, New York City's famous food market

Groundbreaking new book celebrates the pleasures and benefits of fermented foods;

Wild Fermentation demystifies ancient food transformation processes and explains simple techniques for creating delicious and nutritious ferments at home.

Bread. Cheese. Wine. Beer. Coffee. Chocolate. Most people consume fermented foods and drinks every day. For thousands of years, humans have enjoyed the distinctive flavors and nutrition resulting from the transformative power of microscopic bacteria and fungi. Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods is the first cookbook to widely explore the culinary magic of fermentation.

“Fermentation has been an important journey of discovery for me,” writes author Sandor Ellix Katz. “I invite you to join me along this effervescent path, well trodden for thousands of years yet largely forgotten in our time and place, bypassed by the superhighway of industrial food production.”

The flavors of fermentation are compelling and complex, quite literally alive. This book takes readers on a whirlwind trip through the wide world of fermentation, providing readers with basic and delicious recipes—some familiar, others exotic—that are easy to make at home.

The book covers vegetable ferments such as sauerkraut, kimchi, and sour pickles; bean ferments including miso, tempeh, dosas, and idli; dairy ferments including yogurt, kefir, and basic cheesemaking (as well as vegan alternatives); sourdough bread-making; other grain fermentations from Cherokee, African, Japanese, and Russian traditions; extremely simple wine- and beer-making (as well as cider-, mead-, and champagne-making) techniques; and vinegar-making. With nearly 100 recipes, this is the most comprehensive and wide-ranging fermentation cookbook ever published.

The author, a long-term HIV/AIDS survivor, also reflects upon the importance of fermentation in the cycles of life, and as a phenomenon in the spread of ideas and social change. Much more than a cookbook, this book touches on issues as varied as globalization, genetic engineering, and gender politics. “For me, fermentation is a health regimen, a gourmet art, a multicultural adventure, a form of activism, and a spiritual path, all rolled into one,” writes the author.

Wild Fermentation is a revolutionary and unique book, exploring cultural theory and the history of human nutrition. From raw foodists to slow foodists, from vegans to insatiable carnivores, this book will appeal to anyone interested in world food traditions and the "whys" of good food and good health.