Put your bacteria to work
What’s lactofermentation? Why should you care?
For most people, especially here in Tennessee Whiskey country, the term “fermentation” suggests alcohol.
Alcohol is certainly the product of fermentation; yeast consume carbohydrates from grains or fruit juices and produce alcohol as a byproduct. But the term “fermentation” is much broader than that, and includes any use of microorganisms — yeast, bacteria, mold — to transform food or beverages.
Coffee beans are allowed to ferment after harvesting but before roasting, and the exact nature of this fermentation can be tinkered with to affect the flavor of the coffee. Yogurt and cheese and buttermilk are fermented dairy products. Yeast breads are considered fermented products. Soy sauce is made by using a special kind of mold to ferment soybeans and grains. Even the pepperoni on your pizza is a product of fermentation.
In the past few years, as a result of wanting to make my own hot sauce, I’ve been learning about, and experimenting with lactofermentation of vegetables. I’ve written several times about specific projects — my hot sauce, for example, or sauerkraut. But I’ve imagined myself giving a talk about lactofermentation in general, and one day I decided I needed to just write it down. In the first place, no one is lining up to ask me to give a…
