Ferment, by Kenji Morimoto

Quick pickles and fun ferments

When I review a cookbook, it’s normally a process that takes a few weeks. I read the intro and flick through, note the recipes I most want to try, and work through as many as I can before it’s time to put some words together.

Ferment, by Kenji Morimoto, was a bit different.

You see, as the name suggests, this is a book on all things fermented — and pickled, it’s worth saying — and that’s a process that takes time. And so for the last several months I’ve been working away at pickles both quick and slow, fermented hot sauce and pasty miso, and even a sugary, syrupy Korean fruit concoction called cheong. The darkest corner of my living room has become a breeding ground for all those good bacteria from the Yakult ads, and I’ve finally found a happy justification for my long habit of hoarding pickle jars.

The good news is that if you pick up Ferment you’ll likely find any similar effort rewarded. This is an in-depth but beginner-friendly guide to a variety of fermentation and pickling techniques, and most importantly one whose advice basically just works. Across my months of work I’ve had just one jar go bad — a sauerkraut that developed a rather threatening looking layer of mould at the top — and countless more yield delicious results.

I think that’s an important note to start on, because that food safety concern is probably a large part of why a lot of people steer clear of food preservation — no-one wants to be responsible for giving the family botulism. Morimoto certainly doesn’t downplay those fears, but he does give practical, simple advice on how to ferment and pickle safely, laying down what you do need to worry about and what you really, honestly, don’t. The result is advice that’s unexpectedly straightforward and essentially reassuring — fermentation without the fear.

Starting with pickles and sauerkraut, Morimoto works his way through kimchi, miso, kombucha, and cheong. Each section begins with the basics, before veering into less expected options: garam masala sauerkraut, rhubarb kimchi, or gazpacho-inspired fermented tomatoes perhaps. Morimoto is just as quick to introduce and explain traditional techniques as he is to leave them behind before they become stifling. He’s the first to admit that his pumpkin miso is no miso at all by any strict definition, but rightly won’t let that stop him borrowing the name to reflect the techniques and traditions he’s building on with the recipe. These recipes also lay out the blueprint for the reader’s own experimentation, hinting at the considerations you’ll need to make — and the rules you must not break — in finding your own fermented flavours.