Some books about fermentation for beginners and expert

I've been fermenting a lot this year.  Be it making apple cider or sour cucumber pickles, I find the magical transformation of fermentation deliciously fascinating.

Fermentation covers a wide variety of foods, including apple cider, cucumber pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, and more.  Some of which I've featured on this blog, some of which I still need to write about.

Here are a few books on the topic fermentation:

Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz

Cucumbers, dill and garlic scapes

This is the book that gave me the confidence to try (and stick with till the end) home fermenting experiments. Sure I've tried my hand at fermenting before, but usually chickened out when mold formed on the surface, or when the experiment gave me stomach cramps and the runs.  The problem was, I didn't really understand what was going on when things ferment.  But Katz book helped solve that.

Wild Fermentation is a collection of recipes, stories, and information on what's going inside your vat, and how to get the best result.

layered with salt,
ready to start fermenting

I've tried many of these recipes, and plan to try more in the near future.  Not all of them turned out well, but the ones that did, are now things I make on a regular basis.  I do find that many of the pickle recipes turn out too salty, so I tend to cut the salt in half if I just want a quick'ish pickle I can keep long term in the fridge.  By reading Katz (both this and his other book The Art of Fermentation) I now feel confident that I can adjust the salt for what I want to achieve and the time of year.

This is a beginner friendly book, but is useful for fermentos (apparently that's what they call fermentation fanatics these days) of all skill levels.

Keeping Food Fresh by Eliot Coleman

A collection of recipes from rural France, it has the feel of someone going around a bunch of villages and talking with the old ladies, asking them what recipes they use to use before refrigeration.  This, in my opinion, is Fantastic.  I love how the author collected and preserved this knowledge which would otherwise have been lost.  I also think it is a great opportunity to learn how to extend the shelf life of foodstuff using little or no electricity.

Veg ready for kimchi

The recipes, however, are not for the faint of heart or inexperienced.  Think of them more as guidelines: you take some of this, do some of that till it has this subjective quality, then do some vague thing.  This is really good now that I have a bit of experience with fermentation, but I would not recommend this as a beginners book.

The chapter on fermentation is small, but has some good recipes in it.  The book also covers preserving in oil, vinegar, salt, sugar, alcohol and drying.

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon

yummy kimchi
goes well with everything

Nourishing Traditions has a wonderful section at the front of the book that explains what food does for the human body, about the Modern Diseases how our health correlates with our diet.  Fallon talks about traditional diets (aka, pre industrial revolution technologies) where people make and eat just about everything from scratch.  Diets that include animal fats and live culture (aka, fermented) foodstuff.  Basically it's a primer on why so much we were taught as kids (don't eat butter, be scared of food you process at home, the only safe food is one that comes from a supermarket, specifically from a box - thank you grade eight home ec. teacher.)...why these things don't hold up under close scrutiny.  This book is about how people have been eating these traditional diets that have evolved for thousands of years, and yet they don't have the same things wrong with them that are so common in our Western World.  Yet, they eat butter, &c....

I recommend this book to people just for the chapter on cholesterol and fats... it's the best explanation I've come up with about what it is, what it does, how eating foods that contain cholesterol affect our health.  Why it may not be such a bad thing after all.

All that said, I do not recommend Nourishing Traditions for the recipes.  I've tried about a dozen or so by now, and the best case scenario was foul tasting mush that even the chickens turned their beak up at.  There are a few bouts of suspected food poisoning from trying some of the fermented recipes... but I don't know why.  Is it just that the microbe community in my gut cannot handle these traditional foods?  Possible but doubtful.  The methods in the recipes look like they should work, and I know enough about fermenting now to adapt for environment and so forth.  It may just be one of those things that just doesn't work for me - like certain sewing machines I've known, they work for everyone else, but when I sit down at them there are tangles of thread, broken fabric, and wisps of smoke.  Sometimes no matter how much I want it to be, there are some items in this world I am simply not comparable with.  I suspect the recipes in this book are one of them.

I would recommend this book for the more curious reader.  Someone who has their toe (or entire leg) in the door and wants to learn more about the whys and wherefore of human diet.  It's not for everyone as things get technical really quickly.  Michael Pollan touches on many of these issues in his book In Defence of Foods, so for the more casual reader I suggest you start there.

The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Katz

This thick tome is more an in depth exploration of fermenting then a recipe book.  This is where you go when you've made a first batch of Sauerkraut or two and you want to know more.  What else is fermented in this world, how can I make my kraut better... &c.

After an embarrassingly large numbers of failures to make ginger beer, including following the recipes in Fallon's book and Katz other book, Wild Fermentation, I gave up.  That is until I read the section in The Art of Fermentation, which casually described the process of making ginger (and other root beers) in a vague, non specific way.  Yes, I know non-specific if redundant there, but think of it as rhetoric, because it was such an ambiguous explanation.  It was also exactly what I needed.  Forgetting recipes and following a small selection of words otherwise burred in a large book, I was able to make ginger beer, successfully, that tasted quite good.  The ginger beer improves each time I make it.

It got me thinking maybe fermenting doesn't need a recipe, maybe it works better if it is allowed to develop ...dare I say it?... organically.  Maybe that's what Katz message is all about, recipes are there to help you get the hang of how things ferment, but once you understand what's going on, you don't need to stay bound to a set series of instructions.  Working with the knowledge you gain from reading and experimenting, you can try different and creative things.  Afterall, isn't that what fermentation was like before the industrial revolution?  People had too many crops - trust me, when a crop is ready, it is Ready! - and they used fermenting as a means for preserving the foodstuff for the winter months.

This is a book for anyone not an absolute beginner.  It ranges from moderate-beginner to extra advanced, been doing this all your life, kind of information.

Cooked by Michael Pollan

Like Pollan's other books, this is a fantastic introduction on how we cook.  It's a collection of storytelling and explanation on everything cooked from roasting meat over an open flame, to making a stew, and yes, even a quarter of the book dedicated to fermentation.

Sourdough crackers and red wine
both fermented foods
both delicious

Cheese, bread, wine, beer, mead, pickled swiss chard roots, are just a few of the fermented foods he explores.

Although there are very few recipes, okay next to none, the book is one I recommend to people who are curious about food.  Cooked can stand on it's own, but it's even better paired with In Defence of Food, also by Pollan.  While Defence of Food tells us what is wrong with how we eat, Cooked, tells us how to eat and better still, the story of how we create it (I'm going to cite the introduction to Cooked for this last sentence, but I can't find my copy right now.  So I'm not sure if that is where I read it or if I dreamt I read it.)








There you have it.  These books make up the fermentation section of my library.  I will likely add some more books and update the links later.  But for now, I have some ginger beer to brew.

Fall Fair Bento

Every year for the local Fall Fair I spend a day demonstrating fibre arts.  It's a whole day surrounded by excited people, barns full of animals, colourful exhibits, the sound of fair rides, and the smells of food stalls.

It always starts with the smell of frying onions, about 10 o'clock in the morning.  The international food stands arrive first, as most of their cooking is from scratch on site, with a few dishes made the night before at home.

Next is the smell of things frying in oil, I know the more 'traditional' - or should I say more modern - cooking has arrived.  Frozen food heated in deep oil, or sometimes fresh food heated in deep oil like my favourite smell, the doughnut stand.  He has a gooey mess of fresh batter and this antiquated machine that transforms gooey mess into fried mini doughnuts, for sale by the half dozen.  Sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.

Then the smell of spices compete with the smell of charred meats on the BBQ.  A deep breath and I can just about feel the crunch of the grilled Bratwurst break open in my teeth, the juices running down my chin, the toasted bun sopping up the juices, and the sauerkraut....mmmm, sauerkraut on hotdog!

All these wonderful smells are pure torture for someone with food allergies and sensitivities.  There are days when I would rather have my toenails pulled out with a pair of pliers than to have to walk through a food court - especially one with good quality, freshly made food like the stalls at the Fall Fair.


The only way to tolerate this torturous tantalization is to bring a lunch just as delicious as anything that can be bought at the fair.


This is a three layer Bento, well actually a Tiffin container from India.  Bottom layer contained rice, ume, and a cute little chicken container filled with Spicy Rooster (I don't know what it's actually called, but it has a picture of a rooster on the bottle and is exceptionally spicy) sauce.  The next layer, some boiled broccoli, a cherry tomato from the garden, and chicken Kara Age.  The chicken is marinaded over night, coated in cornstarch, fried in about half an inch of oil, then marinated again.  It's exceptionally yummy!

The top layer is fruit:  Apples, grapes, and a selection of cheese.

Everything except for the fruit layer, is packed hot and allowed to cool - this way the moisture can evaporate and the lunch will keep from spoiling in hot weather.  Of course, the chicken always gets eaten first, as it is so delicious.


Affordability?  It's about $1 worth of chicken plus everything else, I would say about $2 for the entire lunch.  Maybe less if you can find some of the items on sale.  All in all, not too shabby.

Medieval cooking: Poudre Douce and Poudre Fort recipes

Here's a couple of recipes I brought back from my trip to the 14th Century.  Poudre Fort and Poudre Douce (or strong powder and sweet powder).  You can use these two powders in just about anything.  The Fort or strong powder, I use for cooking meat, fish, veg, rice, soups, and anywhere else one might use pepper in modern cooking.  The Douce or sweet powder, I use for bread making, just about anything dessert, or even sprinkling on fresh fruit.

Poudre Fort

1 pinch powdered ginger
2 pinches of powdered cinnamon
about 4 to 8 Tbs peppercorns ground fine (at the medieval camp I did this by hand, it wasn't too time consuming)
1/4 tsp sugar (any sugar will do, so long as it's in granular/dry form)

• Pulverize into powder anything that isn't already, and blend well.  Keep in an airtight jar on the counter so it's always on hand when you need it.

Feel free to alter the ratios or add other spices like nutmeg to taste.  This is just the recipe that was passed down to me by an expert medievalist (I'm thinking that's probably not the right word for it, but it will serve till I can think of a better one).

Poudre Douce

1 recipe of Poudre Fort (see above)
1/2 tsp cinnamon (yes, we are doing cinnamon twice)
maybe a pinch of nutmeg or allspice
More Sugar (any dry sugar, powdered, granular, date, palm, beet, &c.) - I tell you how much below.

• Pulverize into powder anything that isn't already.  Mix together all but the (extra) sugar
• Guess about how much spice you have here (by volume) - probably getting close to a 1/4 cup by now.  Add an equal amount of sugar to the other spices.  So, if you have roughly 1/4 cup of spices, then add 1/4 cup of sugar.  If you have 4 Tbs of spices, then add another 4 Tbs of sugar.
• Mix everything together really well, keep in an airtight jar on the counter so you can use it always on hand.

With time and practice, you will develop your own ratios for these spices.  There are many other recipes for these that have developed over the centuries.  Some completely different than the ones shown here.  

However, these are so incredibly delicious, I'm really surprised they aren't more common.

A word of caution for allergies: Some modern spices have Soy and other oils/lecithins used in the processing.  Always check the ingredients on the spice packets if you are cooking for someone with allergies.

Chickweed salve recipe

Here's a recipe for some Chickweed salve I made recently.

I have a friend who has one of the most amazing skin problems I've ever seen.  Whenever I see his hands I just want to cry it looks so painful.  Apparently it feels far worse than it looks, poor thing.

Over the years he tried almost every skin treatment imaginable, from fancy doctor stuff to holistic herbal whatcha things.  Most of them made the hurt and crack and bleed... but a few things worked for him and he gave me permission to make a salve based on that.

I have a theory that there are two main kind of skin problems - keep in mind, it's just an oversimplified theory based on my observation and questioning people I meet.  One kind of skin problem is caused by the immune system not working well enough, and the other is caused by the immune system working too well.  For people with the former, herbal lotions with calendula, honey, lavender, and other immune supporting elements will help, but for my friend, he needs the exact opposite.  It's like his immune system is attacking his skin in some sort of vengeful fit of rage at the world around it.



Chickweed in the past has helped my friend (let's call him Mr Kitten) so I thought I would start with that.  It has a nice soothing quality that doesn't encourage the immune system to take action.

I gathered up a large handful of fresh chickweed from the garden (it's a weed so I was 'gathering' it anyway), washed it well and chopped it medium fine.  Then I added it to lard and very gently simmered it in the slow cooker for two hours.

Cooking in the slowcooker was a mistake.  The temperature was way too high, so next time I'll cook in a double boiler situation.

When it smelt good and chickweed like, I strained the chickweed, added olive oil and beeswax to make the texture right (depending on where on the animal the fat came from, it may be too runny or too hard for a lotion).  Next time I won't be adding beeswax as I realize now it is one of those immune boosters.  Instead, I'll just use tallow fat which is much stiffer than regular lard.

Put it in jars, letting it cool before putting on the lid.

So far Mr Kitten says it's working well with a bit of a sting at the start.  I might try adding some Dock weed to the next concoction to see if that helps at all.

Sam gae tang - or Korean chicken soup

I found this nifty looking packet in a Korean grocery store the other day, and I just knew I needed to find out what it was for and cook it.

Okay, maybe it looks a bit messy here, but trust me on this one, it was delicious. The dish is something like a cross between pottage and chicken soup.  The soup itself is quite mild, with garlic, dates and chestnuts providing splashes of texture and taste sensations.  The kimchi (home made by the way) is necessary in my opinion.

In the packet is roughly 1 cup of sweet rice, one chunk of dry ginseng, 5 dates and 5 chestnuts.

Traditionally it is washed and mixed together and stuffed into gamecocks, put in a pot with water and cooked on the stove till done, adding more water as needed.

First I washed the package ingredients and put them to soak while I dealt with the chicken.

I didn't have a single serving chicken, so I used a regular size fryer.  I used the neck, wings, legs and breasts, in nice big chunks, bone in (the carcass became stock later on), put the pottage ingredients in the bottom of the pan with half a dozen cloves of garlic (peeled), lay the chicken bits on top, then added water to cover everything.  I brought to boil and then simmered on very low till it was done (stirring frequently).  Took about an hour and twenty minutes, but would make a nice slow cooker meal I think.

You can serve the chicken with the bone in, but I don't like to think too much while I'm eating, so I removed the chicken, skinned it (I left some of the skin on for flavour while cooking), shredded it with a fork, then placed it on top of the soup.

Tastes good, reheated the second day too.

Apparently this is a traditional summer meal in Korea and is good for keeping one cool during a heatwave.

Allergies: the ingredients were simple enough, no extra stuff like soy in this package.  Should be fine for most diets.

Affordable?:  Chicken is going up in price here the last five years or so, and the quality is going down.  The affordable chicken in the supermarket is repulsive to me, too fatty, too chemically, too much added water injected into the meat after it's been processed...  I use to eat two or three chicken a week, but now I maybe eat one or two a month, because the poultry I like, is a bit expensive.

To save money, instead of just buying chicken pieces, I bought a whole chicken and cut it up.  The link I just gave you is from the handsome boys at Sorted Foods.  It's the video that gave me the confidence to actually cut up a chicken.  I must have watched it at least 10 times before trying it on my own.

Note - did you know that when you cut up a cooked chicken, you don't carve it, you spoil (not unlace like I first wrote, that's what you do to rabbit) the chicken - English has so many beautiful and specific words that are dieing out, it makes me sad.

Locally a whole chicken costs a little under what two breasts cost in the store.   But with a whole chicken, I get the wings, the neck, the drumsticks, the thighs, the carcass and the breasts... With the price of poultry on the rise, I can no longer justify buying just chicken pieces.

After all that long rant, is it an affordable dish to cook?  $15 for a chicken, another four for the filling, another dollar for the kimchi as it was homemade, makes it $20 for the whole dish.  It made 8 bowls full of yummy, yummy soup that's not bad.  Roughly 2.50 per plate, but keep in mind, it is yummy and most people will want seconds and thirds.