Fermented Landscapes

Fermented Landscapes applies the concept of fermentation as a mechanism through which to understand and analyze processes of landscape change. This comprehensive conceptualization of "fermented landscapes" examines the excitement, unrest, and agitation evident across shifting physical-environmental and sociocultural landscapes as related to the production, distribution, and consumption of fermented products. This collection includes a variety of perspectives on wine, beer, and cider geographies, as well as the geography of other fermented products, considering the use of "local" materials in craft beverages as a function of neolocalism and sustainability and the nonhuman elements of fermentation. Investigating the environmental, economic, and sociocultural implications of fermentation in expected and unexpected places and ways allows for a complex study of rural-urban exchanges or metabolisms over time and space--an increasingly relevant endeavor in socially and environmentally challenged contexts, global and local.

Bestselling author Sandor Katz—an “unlikely rock star of the American food scene” (New York Times)—delivers a mesmerizing treatise on the meaning of fermentation alongside his awe-inspiring photography of this transformative process, teaching us with words and images about ourselves, our culture, and being human. In 2012, Sandor Ellix Katz published The Art of Fermentation, which quickly became the bible for foodies around the world, a runaway bestseller, and a James Beard Book Award winner. Since then his work has gone on to inspire countless professionals and home cooks worldwide, bringing fermentation into the mainstream. In Fermentation as Metaphor, stemming from his personal obsession with all things fermented, Katz 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. Throughout this truly one-of-a-kind book, Katz showcases fifty mesmerizing, original images of otherworldly beings from an unseen universe—images of fermented foods and beverages that he has photographed using both a stereoscope and electron microscope—exalting microbial life from the level of “germs” to that of high art. When you see the raw beauty and complexity of microbial structures, Katz says, they will take you “far from absolute boundaries and rigid categories. They force us to reconceptualize. They make us ferment.” Fermentation as Metaphor broadens and redefines our relationship with food and fermentation. It’s the perfect gift for serious foodies, fans of fermentation, and non-fiction readers alike.

At Noma—four times named the world’s best restaurant—every dish includes some form of fermentation, whether it’s a bright hit of vinegar, a deeply savory miso, an electrifying drop of garum, or the sweet intensity of black garlic. Fermentation is one of the foundations behind Noma’s extraordinary flavor profiles. Now René Redzepi, chef and co-owner of Noma, and David Zilber, the chef who runs the restaurant’s acclaimed fermentation lab, share never-before-revealed techniques to creating Noma’s extensive pantry of ferments. And they do so with a book conceived specifically to share their knowledge and techniques with home cooks. With more than 500 step-by-step photographs and illustrations, and with every recipe approachably written and meticulously tested, The Noma Guide to Fermentation takes readers far beyond the typical kimchi and sauerkraut to include koji, kombuchas, shoyus, misos, lacto-ferments, vinegars, garums, and black fruits and vegetables. And—perhaps even more important—it shows how to use these game-changing pantry ingredients in more than 100 original recipes. Fermentation is already building as the most significant new direction in food (and health). With The Noma Guide to Fermentation, it’s about to be taken to a whole new level.

Here's a cookbook destined to be talked-about this season, rich in techniques and recipes epitomizing the way we cook and eat now. Bar Tartine—co-founded by Tartine Bakery's Chad Robertson and Elisabeth Prueitt—is obsessed over by locals and visitors, critics and chefs. It is a restaurant that defies categorization, but not description: Everything is made in-house and layered into extraordinarily flavorful food. Helmed by Nick Balla and Cortney Burns, it draws on time-honored processes (such as fermentation, curing, pickling), and a core that runs through the cuisines of Central Europe, Japan, and Scandinavia to deliver a range of dishes from soups to salads, to shared plates and sweets. With more than 150 photographs, this highly anticipated cookbook is a true original.