Fermentation is ‘an uneasy pact with a whole unseen world of living organisms’
Learn how to unleash flavours and transform your cooking with fermentation, Noma-style Laura Brehaut
Coffee, tea, sourdough, cheese, soy sauce, miso, beer and wine: Through history, fermented foods have been intrinsic to the human experience. So much so that we typically don’t give their origins much thought. But the fermented products that punctuate our days are cultural cornerstones. Cultivating practical knowledge of the processes that underpin them can enrich your life and completely transform your cooking.
The antithesis of the many fastmoving aspects of our lives, fermentation is slow. If you’re patient enough to wait for the microbes to carry out their work, you’ll be rewarded with foods that have a depth of flavour you simply can’t achieve any other way. “It’s an incredible analogue experience in a very digitalized world. And I think that’s one of the reasons why food is having such a moment, because people are yearning for things they can actually feel in a different way,” says René Redzepi, chef and co-owner of Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark. “Cooking has that – touching things, touching ingredients – and I think fermentation is definitely a step further… Nobody today would start downloading anything that takes seven days, right. But there’s nothing you can do, (you just have to) wait.”
In The Noma Guide to Fermentation (Artisan Books, 2018), Redzepi and Torontonian co-author David Zilber, director of the restaurant’s fermentation lab, offer an indispensable glimpse into how the four-time world’s best restaurant approaches fermented foods, all adapted for the home kitchen. “The book is written to be doable,” says Zilber, adding that food writer Martha Holmberg tested all of the recipes in her studio apartment. “We had to find ways that people could do this in their homes. There’s a photo of my lab in the introduction where you can see how crazy (it) actually looks. There are walls of equipment and of course there’s nothing in the book that requires any of that equipment.”
If you’re new to fermentation, the following recipes may seem daunting at first glance. However, once you’ve made your first ferment, you’ll understand firsthand how intuitive the methods are and how applicable they are to limitless raw ingredients. And if safety is a concern, rest assured that people have been fermenting since ancient times. The authors offer a clear and thorough overview of the processes, including the principals behind encouraging desirable microbes and blocking unwanted ones, and best practices for maintaining a clean fermentation space.
“Once you realize that you’re not just following a recipe – you’re in this uneasy pact with a whole unseen world of living organisms – it really helps you to check your hubris and enlargen your view of what it means to be a human being in the world. You start learning about the microbiome. You start learning about where these microbes come from and how they coevolved,” says Zilber. “There’s a quote from (Italian-American poet John Ciardi). He says, ‘Fermentation and civilization are inseparable.’ And they absolutely are.”
The lacto-ferments, kombuchas, vinegars, koji, misos, shoyus, garums, and black fruits and vegetables in the book represent the basis of every one of Noma’s dishes. Redzepi describes fermentation as “the DNA of who we are today” – it isn’t used for one particular flavour but rather to enhance everything. He likens having an array of ferments at your disposal to wearing the best gear when playing sports: “It just helps you be better.” In the guide, Redzepi and Zilber underscore the immense value in not only making your own ferments but also learning how to apply them in innovative ways.
“That’s how Noma cooks. That’s how Noma does what it does; it layers all these flavours,” says Zilber. “Everyone calls it ‘The Noma Guide to Fermentation’ but its actual title is ‘Foundations of Flavour’ because that’s what these things are: building blocks upon which you craft a symphony.”
Excerpted from The Noma Guide to Fermentation by René Redzepi and David Zilber (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2018. Photographs by Evan Sung. Illustrations by Paula Troxler. Used with permission from the publisher.