Our Fermented Lives

June 1, 2022
Atlanta restaurateur and food historian Skinner (Afternoon Tea, 2019) expounds on her fundamental passion, the art and science of fermentation. After completing a residency with fermentation guru Sandor Ellix Katz (who provides the book's foreword), Skinner explored the history of fermentation in all its varied and complex detail. Many national traditions focus on fermented products: Korean kimchi; Syrian labneh; Armenian yogurt; German beer and sauerkraut. Fermentation offers crucially important means to preserve foods without excessive use of technological assistance. Readers may be surprised to learn that fermentation extends beyond food and drink into the realm of fashion, where it plays a vital role in producing the rich hues of indigo dyes. During the bread-making craze of COVID-19 home confinement, home bakers discovered old-fashioned ways of capturing wild yeasts out of the air. Recipes illustrating various fermentation principles include Southern chowchow and Jamaican ginger beer. Skinner pours forth so much historical and practical information about fermentation that her book is indispensable for all levels of readers intrigued by this ancient process.

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