Michael Pollan's Foreword to The Art of Fermentation, by Sandor Ellix Katz

S A N D O R E L L I X K AT Z  Forew  F oreword ord by by Michael Pollan Pollan

The  A R T of  

FERMENTATION

AN IN-DEP TH EXPLORATION EXPLORATION OF ESSENTIA L CONCEPTS AND PROCESSES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

With Practical Information on Fermenting Vegetables, Fruits, Grains, Milk, Beans, Bean s, Meats, and More

Foreword

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he Art of Fermentationisaninspiringbook,andImeanthatliterally. ThebookhasinspiredmetodothingsI’veneverdonebefore,andprobablyneverwouldhavedoneifIhadn’treadit.Infact,Katz’sbookisthemain reasonthatmykitchencountersandbasementoorhavelatelysproutedan assortmentofmasonjars,ceramiccrocks,jellyjars,bottles,andcarboys,the clearonesglowingwithunearthlycolors.SincefallingunderthespellofKatz’s fermentationevangelism,Ihavelaunchedbigcrocksofsauerkrautandkimchi;masonjarsofpickledcucumbers,carrots,beets,cauliower,onions,peppers,andramps;jellyjarsofyogurtandker;andve-galloncarboysofbeer andmead.Allofthem,Iamregularlyreminded,arealive.Whenit’slateat nightandquietinthehouse,Icanhearmyfermentsgurglingcontentedly.It’s  becomeadeeplypleasingsound,bec auseitmeansmymicrobesa auseitmeansmymicrobesarehappy. rehappy. Ireadcookbooksallthetimeandnevermakeathingfromthem,sowhy  wasThe Art of Fermentation different?Foronething,SandorKatzwrites aboutthetransformativepoweroffermentationwithsuchinfectiousenthusiasmthathemakesyouwanttotrythings just to see what happens. It’s thesamewayIfeltthedaymyelementaryschoolteachertoldussomething miraculouswouldhappenifwemixedupsomevinegarwithbakingsoda. Thesemicrobialtransformations aremiraculousandso,veryoften,arethe results:strikingnewavorsandinterestingnewtextures,wroughtfromthe mostordinaryingredients,andnotbyusbutbybacteriaandfungi.  AnotherreasonKatzins  Another reasonKatzinspiresus piresustotryreci totryrecipestomake pestomakethingsyo thingsyouneve unever r evenknewexisted(kvass?shrub?!)isthatheneverintimidates.Tothecontrary.  Asacookbook  Asacoo kbook—and,as —and,asIwillgetto Iwillgetto,it ,itisso issomuch muchmore morethana thanacookboo cookbook k—The  Art of Fermentationisempowering.Thoughthebooktrafcsinmanykinds ofmicrobialmystery,Katzisbytemperamentademystier:it’snotthatcomplicated,heassuresus,anyonecanmakesauerkraut;here’sallyouneedtodo.  Andifsomething  Andifso methinggoeswron goeswrong? g?Ifyour Ifyourkraut krautgrowsanalarming growsanalarming-lookin -lookingbeardo gbeardof f mold?Noneedtopanic;justshaveoffthemoldandenjoythekrautbeneathit. ButthisattitudehassomethingmorebehinditthanSandorKatz’seasygoingtemperamentinthekitchen;thereisapoliticsatworkhereaswell.The  Art of Fermentation Fermentatio nismuchmorethanacookbook.Orrather,itisacookbook inthesamewaythat Zen  Zen and the Art of Archery isahow-toaboutbowsand arrows.Sure,ittellsyouhowtodoit,butmuchmoreimportant,ittellsyou  whatitmeans,andwhyanactasquotidianandpract  whatitmeans,andwhyanacta squotidianandpracticalasma icalasmakingyourown kingyourown

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sauerkrautrepresentsnothinglessthanawayofengagingwiththeworld.Or rather,withseveraldifferentworlds,eachnestedinsidetheother:theinvisible  worldoffung  worldof fungiandbacter iandbacteria;thecommunityinwhichyoulive;andtheindusia;thecommunityinwhichyoulive;andtheindustrialfoodsystemthatisunderminingthehealthofourbodiesandtheland. Thismightseemlikealargeclaimforacrockofsauerkraut,butSandor Katz’ssignalachievementinthisbookistoconvinceyouofitstruth.Tofermentyourownfoodistolodgeaneloquentprotest—ofthesenses—against thehomogenizationofavorsandfoodexperiencesnowrollinglikeagreat, undifferentiatedlawnacrosstheglobe.Itisalsoadeclarationofindependence fromaneconomythatwouldmuchpreferwewereallpassiveconsumersofits commodities,ratherthancreatorsofuniqueproductsexpressiveofourselves andtheplaceswherewelive.Becauseyoursauerkrautorhomebrewwillbe nothinglikemineoranyoneelse’s. TheKoreans,whoknowathingortwoaboutfermentation,distinguish  betweenthe“tonguetaste”ofvar  betweenthe“tonguet aste”ofvariousfoodsandthe“ha iousfoodsandthe“handtaste.”T ndtaste.”Tonguetaste onguetaste isasimplematterofmoleculesmakingcontactwithtastebuds—thekindof cheapandeasyavorsanyfoodscientistorfoodcorporationcanproduce. “Handtaste”isthefarmorecomplexexperienceofafoodthatbearstheindeliblemark—thecareandsometimeseventhelove—ofthepersonwhomadeit. Thesauerkrautyoumakeyourselfwillhavehandtaste.  Andyouwillhaveplentyofi  Andyouwillhavep lentyofittogivea ttogiveaway way,trustme.One ,trustme.Oneofthebestthings ofthebestthings aboutmakingyourownfermentsis aboutmakingyour ownfermentsissharingthemwithothers, sharingthemwithothers,offthegridof offthegridof thecasheconomy.Inowswapbottlesofbeerandmeadwithotherhomebrewersandtakepartinasteadytradeinmasonjars,whichl ersandtakepartinasteadytradein masonjars,whichleavemy eavemyhousebrimhousebrimmingwithsauerkrautonlytoreturnbrimmingwithother mingwithsauerkraut onlytoreturnbrimmingwithotherpeople’ people’skimchior skimchior pickles.Todelveintotheworldoffermentedfoodsistoenterthecommunityof fermentos,whohappen fermentos,wh ohappentobeam tobeamostinteresting,eccentric,and ostinteresting,eccentric,andgenerousb generousbunch. unch. Butofcoursethereisanothercommunitytowhich The Art of Fermentationservesasakindofpassportorvisa:theunseencommunityoffungiand  bacteriaallaroundusa  bacter iaallaroundusandwithinus ndwithinus.Ifthisbookhasanunderly .Ifthisbookhasanunderlyingagenda ingagenda (anditassuredlydoes)itistohelpusreconceiveourrelationshipwithwhat  biologistLynnMargulisca  biologistLynnMarg uliscallsthe“microcosmos.”SinceLouisPasteurd llsthe“microcosmos.”SinceLouisPasteurdisiscoveredtheroleofmicrobesindiseasemorethanacenturyago,mostof ushavefoundourselvesonawarfootingwithrespecttobacteria.Wedose ourchildrenwithantibiotics,keepthemasfarawayfrommicrobesaspossible,andgenerallystrivetosanitizetheirworld.WearelivingintheAgeof Purell.Andyetbiologistshavecometoappreciatethatthewaronbacteriais notonlyfutile—thebacteria,whichcanout-evolveus,willalwayswin—but counterproductive. Theproigateuseofantibioticshasproducedresistantbacteriaaslethal asanywemanagedtokill.Thosedrugs,alongwithaprocessedfooddiet lackinginbothbacteriaandfoodforbacteria(akaber),havedisordered themicrobialecologyinourgutinprofoundwaysthatwearejustbeginning tounderstand,andwhichmaywellexplainmanyofourhealthproblems.

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Childrenprotectedfrombacteriaturnouttohavehigherratesofallergyand asthma.Wearediscoveringthatoneofthekeystoourwell-beingisthewell beingofthemicroorawithwhomwesharethesebodies,  beingofthemicroorawithwhomw esharethesebodies,andwithwhomwe andwithwhomwe co-evolved.Anditlooksliketheyreally,reallylikesauerkraut. Inthewaronbacteria,SandorKatzisaconrmedpacist.Butheisn’t  justsittingoutthewar,orspeechif  justsittingoutthewar,or speechif yingaboutit.He’sdo yingaboutit.He’sdoingsomethingtoend ingsomethingtoend it.APost-Pasteurian,Katzwouldhaveusrenegotiatethetermsofourrelationshipwiththemicrocosmos,and The Art of Fermentationisaneloquent andpracticalmanifestoshowingusexactlyhowtodothat,onecrockofsauerkrautatatime.Ifullyexpectthat,likeaparticularlyvibrantmicrobialculture, thisbookwillspawnthousandsofnewfermentos,andnotamomenttoosoon.  Welcometotheparty.  We lcometotheparty. —Michael Michael Pollan December22,2011

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