The Art of Fermenting Food

One thing that all cultures share in their cuisine is the ancient art of fermentation, allowing microbes to flavor and preserve food.

The French have the baguette, Japanese have raw fish and Americans have Coke.

It is a turn-off for many, but we eat many foods that are fermented and sometimes we may not even know it.

Anchor Marco Werman talks about fermentation to Sara Dickerman, a contributing editor at Saveur Magazine.

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Marco Werman: I’m Marco Werman. This is The World. The French have the baguette, Japanese have raw fish, Americans have Coke. Lots of differences between the things consumer by people around the world, but one thing that seems to join all of us is fermented food — foods that contain microbes that we then put in our body. Sara Dickerman is a contributing editor at Saveur Manazine. Sara, start with the basics. What is fermentation?

Sara Dickerman: Okay, so, fermentation is the breakdown of organic compounds into simpler substances by microorganisms. But when we talk about food we’re a little more loose. We’re talking about bacteria, yeast or molds transforming foods.

Werman: Is it too blunt to say that these are living animals that are essentially farting in your food?

Dickerman: Yeah, they are, they’re digesting food and when they digest the food they allow foods to either be more delicious or be more well-preserved, or in some cases be more healthful.

Werman: Right, I mean there was a wake-up moment in your story when I suddenly realized how much food I eat that’s fermented. I mean give us a sense of the variety of foods from around the world that are prepared using fermentation?

Dickerman: Well, you have, even things that you wouldn’t imagine are fermented, like chocolate. There’s a part of the chocolate process that involves fermenting the pulp off of the cacao pods. Of course, we’ve got salami and wine, and beer, all of which we might be familiar with, but moving farther field — things like Kimchi from Korea, fermented cabbage or vegetables. You have soy sauce and miso from Asia. You have things like Kafir from central Asia, and then you have Skyr, which is another fermented milk product from Iceland. Fermented tea from China, Pu-erh Chai tea has a fermented quality to it that makes it really rich and smoky. Something even simple like bread, the cultures are killed when they’re cooked, but you have traditional lentil bread from India, injera from Ethiopia. There’s as you talk about Asia, you get into some ferments that maybe Americans haven’t tasted as much. There’s Natto which is a Japanese delight, and it’s soybeans fermented with a particular kind of bacteria that makes these strands of mucilaginous slime…

Werman: Sounds good.

Dickerman: And it’s stinky and it’s good, but it’s actually, you get into it. It’s a very particular flavor. Some people adore it. I’m like curious about it still, but you know, it’s interesting. It’s really fun to taste other culture’s products around the world because they have a very particular taste.

Werman: Wow, it is very widespread.

Dickerman: It’s just a fundamental part of eating. And you know, you can’t keep the germs out so people have figured out ways of using them to their advantage.

Werman: As things have evolved over time I would guess that chemical preservatives have stepped in where perhaps fermentation used to do the job of conserving food. What’s happening now, is there a trend now back to fermenting foods?

Dickerman: Yes, but I want to say the one thing that really also has changed the world is refrigeration, so we can live with foods that would have spoiled earlier. But yes, I think people have become really curious about where food comes from and how they can make it. And so there’s a real movement toward trying out different fermenting projects, whether that’s making your own beer, making sauerkraut, which is one of the easiest things you can try fermenting at home. People are really drawn to the process of making food and making food more delicious.

Werman: You seem to be a fan, Sara. For those of our listeners who are not fans yet, what’s your recommended fermented gateway food?

Dickerman: Something that you might want to try making at home…

Werman: Yeah.

Dickerman: I think a lot of people love yogurt and I think yogurt made at home is just so much more delicate and interesting or can be even more sour, depending on which culture you use. And the fun thing about it is once you find a yogurt that you really like, keep it going and keep making your own yogurt. Somehow it tastes, it seems like the most elemental foods of a cuisine are the foods that have some fermented component to them. So I feel like when you give a fermented food a try you’re sort of tasting the thing that is very specific to a region, and it’s almost like giving you a chance to travel the world even if you can’t hop on a plane.

Werman: Sara Dickerman, contributing editor at Saveur Magazine. We’ll post a link at theworld.org to her article on fermentation, Preserving Plenty, which appears in Saveur’s current issue.

Dickerman: Thank you, Marco.

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