The book in 3 sentences
- Explore your local environment.
- There are way more edible plants just next to your home than you can imagine.
- Lacto-fermentation is not limited to sauerkraut only but can be used to make roots, non-dairy cheeses, drinks, and much more.
Impressions
Was it good? Was it bad? What did I feel? What I liked
How I discovered it?
I’ve been following foraging and fermnetation subreddits for a long time, and every now and then Pascal Baudar’s name is mentioned. I decided to get this book when someone mentioned it again in relation to non-dairy cheeses (which are actually made of fermented nuts).
How it changed me
I was interested in foraging different wild foods, but I didn’t try to explore my local environment deep. I know some edible mushrooms and berries, I know few of the plants. And that was pretty much it. Turns out there is a whole big world of edible plants, and there is a whole new universe of tastes that you can achieve with lacto-fermentation. And while it’s already too late to go and hunt anything (it’s late fall here), I have winter to prepare and research.
Summary + Notes
This is mostly a recipe book which explains how to start with lacto-fermentation, and then builds on top of that with ever more interesting and exciting recipes. It starts with just plain sauerkraut. Then Pascal adds some new ingredients, mentions wild plants that can be used to improve the taste.
Every new chapter talks about new plants, roots, and other “unexpectedly-edible” (e.g. I never thought one could eat typha) species of our surroundings.
I made a lot of bookmarks and made a batch of sauerkraut to start with.