This is book three is my personal Top 10 Farm Books Of The Decade.
I’m presenting my Top 10 in order of publication.
Let’s head to 2012
With ,,,
The Art of Fermentation
An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from Around the World
by Sandor Katz
Am I allowed to consider this a farming book?
I remember the first perfectly crisp pickles we took out of the crock. As I bit into them I could not believe we had made these with vegetables from our garden by only adding salt & water, and then waiting.
Lactofermentation is magic.
When the Art of Fermentation by Sandor Katz was released. I wondered whether we should bother with with this fermentation book.
We already had a well worn copy of Wild Fermentation by the same author on our shelves. Why bother with a fancier updated version of that book?
On a visit to a local bookstore, I found myself beside this book and I picked it up. I read the table of contents and riffled through the pages. I then proceeded to the cash and bought this book.
If there is one thread through this Top 10 list (other than Farming and being released from 2010 to 2019), it’s that I adore books by folks who have mastered a subject and then distill their rigour and reflection into a clear accessible masterpiece.
The Art of Fermentation is that kind of book.
I have to be careful when I skim through this volume looking for a specific recipe. If I happen to stop to read a paragraph, I will invariably find myself 15 minutes later – a dozen pages further into this book, with my fermentation project untouched on the counter.
I can’t vouch that this book will have the same effect on you.
But if you like fermented foods and want to transform your vegetables into something magical, I think you should take the risk.