Wardeh Harmon - The Complete Idiots Guide to Fermenting Foods

by Wardeh Harmon

A member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

I dedicate this book to my parents, Ibrahim and Martha Bisharat, who filled my childhood with yogurt, cheese, olives, and pickles, and who gave me my love for cultured foods.

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Copyright 2012 by Wardeh Harmon

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THE COMPLETE IDIOTS GUIDE TO and Design are registered trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

ISBN: 978-1-101-58021-9

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2011938635

14 13 12 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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I grew up appreciating and enjoying a select-few fermented foods, mostly Middle Eastern: goat cheese, yogurt, and olives. But I never learned to make anything fermented myself until I grew up and had a family of my own. I embraced fermentation for many reasons, all intertwined. Some of our health challenges were resolved by eating regular servings of fermented, cultured foods. I saw that fermentation meets a need for preservationwithout modern refrigeration, freezing, or high-pressure canning. Keeping our own family milk cow means we have gallons upon gallons of creamy Jersey milk to turn into cheese or other cultured dairy foods. I already loved sour, complex flavors, but I got ridiculously excited about being able to ferment foods myself. And perhaps most importantly, I saw Gods hand in creating the wild, beneficial organisms that we simply put to work for us in smart (not hard) ways.

We may never know all the differences fermented foods make in our bodies (but I share known health benefits in ). Some changes are imperceptible or could be attributed to many factors, and some things we just cant know this side of Heaven. But what we do know is so very encouraging. I feel privileged to be able to share the skills of fermenting foods with you.

I got my experience in fermentation a bit haphazardly. I did a little dabbling here and there before I got serious, and then I tackled fermentation by food type. I created simple beverages, then krauts and pickles, then dairy and sourdough. Here and there I tucked in experiments with chutneys and meats and fish. My family and I liked some of what I made and hated other things. Fermented foods and their complex, sour flavors take some adjustment for most modern folks and we were no exception. I had more than a few flops. I made crumbly, dry, tasteless cheese. I made bitter sauerkraut. I made mushy pickles. Experience is a wonderful teacher, as they say. I think I got a great education.

Along the way, I improved my fermentation skills and got into a groove. I learned what was happening during fermentation and why it was happening. The more I experienced it hands-on through bubbling jars and crocks on my counter, the more I could adapt and adjust and even break rulesand succeed. I learned what were the rules and what were not. These are important nuances born of trial and error.

Im beyond excited about fermenting foods. I love to do it and I love that fermenting is a traditional, sustainable, low-tech method of preserving food with incredible health benefits. This book (and the recipes it contains) barely scratch the surface. Our world has a rich history of fermentation, with thousands upon thousands of recipes and techniques from all parts of the world. Since the beginning of history, people with varying levels of scientific knowledge combined the principles of fermentation (whether merely observed or known) uniquely to produce the worlds best cheese, pickles, krauts, beverages (alcoholic and otherwise), sourdough breads, sausages, and more.