Sandor Katz: Fermentation Revival

Check Out Sandor Katz’s article, The Radical Power of Your Sourdough Starter, and his other online programs, Kimchi and Other Vegetable Fermentations and Sourdough and Grain Fermentation.

“I am deeply devoted to my practice of fermentation. In my home at this moment, I’m tending two long-term sourdough starters, one wheat and one rye, along with yogurt, and jun, a cousin of kombucha; periodically I dip into large vessels filled with half a year’s supply of kraut and kimchi while I wait for misos and shoyu and doubanjang and mirin and takuan and salo and saké and various country wines and meads to slowly ferment. In this realm there is a lot of waiting. . . . The more I ferment, and the more I think and talk and learn about fermentation, the more I realize that what is even more exciting to me about fermentation than its practical manifestations is its profound metaphorical significance.”–Sandor Katz

Fermented foods and beverages are integral to traditions everywhere in the world, and are so ancient that they predate recorded history. Yet we are in the midst of a fermentation revival, with renewed interest in these foods and how they are made. Join fermentation revivalist Sandor Katz to learn some fundamental fermentation concepts, and to hear about his food adventures and his most recent book Fermentation as Metaphor in which he meditates on his art and work, drawing connections between microbial communities and aspects of human culture: politics, religion, social and cultural movements, art, music, sexuality, identity, and even our individual thoughts and feelings. He informs his arguments with his vast knowledge of the fermentation process, which he describes as a slow, gentle, steady, yet unstoppable force for change.

As with all our free programs, within the week after this session, the recording will be posted under the presenter’s name on the Recorded Programs page.