Wild Fermentation

Katz's approach is relaxed and experimental: he wants readers to stop fearing microbes and start playing. After explaining why fermentation matters for flavour, nutrition and food traditions, he moves through families of ferments: vegetables, including sauerkraut, kimchi and pickles; dairy, such as yogurt and kefir; breads and sourdough; beans and grains, including miso and tempeh; and drinks from kombucha and ginger beer to mead and country wines.

Recipes are simple and forgiving, often more like guidelines, and the tone is warm and personal, with stories from Katz's travels and his own kitchen. The new edition adds colour photographs and recipes from many cultures. Readers who want precise measurements and scientific detail may prefer his larger book, The Art of Fermentation, but as an inviting first step this is hard to beat. Some health claims are enthusiastic rather than proven.

A book that turns readers into fermenters, one jar at a time. Start with the sauerkraut. Most projects need nothing more than jars, salt, vegetables and a little patience, and the results are often better than anything from a shop. About 320 pages in the Chelsea Green paperback.