Page 65 - Winter2020

All Thumbs Book Reviews

Fermentation Made Easy! Mouthwatering com, an online compendium of amiable kitchen
Sauerkraut: Master an Ancient Art of wisdom where you can download step-by-step
Preservation, Grow Your Own Probiotics, guides, recipes for everything from pickles to
and Supercharge Your Gut Health fizzy coconut water and recommendations on
By Holly Howie tools and equipment.
Library and Archives Canada The typical reader of this journal may
already be well-versed in the health perks of
Holly Howie’s goal is jars of sauerkraut hap- fermented vegetables, but it never hurts to go
pily fermenting on the counters of one hundred over this information again, especially if you
thousand homes. With Howie’s book, Fermen- need to get reluctant family members on board.
tation Made Easy! Mouthwatering Sauerkraut, Luckily, we are now at a point where plenty of
anyone armed with a glass jar, a cabbage, sea salt scientific studies stand at the ready to back up the
and touch of chutzpah can begin the tantalizing powerful claims of a food preservation method
adventure into the colorful, bubbly world of the that has been around, largely by necessity and
friendly Lactobacillus. innate wisdom, for millennia.
Sally Fallon Morell’s beloved Nourishing As Howie explains, lacto-fermentation can
Traditions inspired Howie to take the fermenta- dramatically increase the bioavailability of min-
tion plunge back in 2002. A grade-school teacher erals and nutrients and supercharge antioxidant
by trade, she followed Fallon’s instructions for potential. For example, one cup of fermented red
basic sauerkraut after learning that virtually all cabbage can contain as much as seven hundred
of the cultural groups Weston A. Price studied milligrams of vitamin C. Food prepared in this Lacto-
included some variety of fermented edibles in way enhances digestion, calms our mood, lowers fermentation
their diet. Howie wanted the health benefits that cholesterol, boosts immunity, neutralizes toxins enhances
these peoples derived from their native diets, and and pesticides, aids in weight loss, reduces the
she was willing to give the anaerobic process a risk of certain types of cancers and much more. digestion,
try for her family’s sake. Lacto-fermentation also creates an amino acid calms our
At that time, most Americans knew about called L-glutamate that humans tend to find tasty
fermentation solely in the context of alcohol. and even borderline-addictive. mood, lowers
Research on the microbiome and the gut-brain After breezing through all the reasons why cholesterol,
connection was still in its infancy, and kombu- you should be fermenting at home in Part One, boosts
cha wasn’t the trendy beverage du jour that it is Howie hopes you will be convinced enough
today. Thanks to the ongoing work of the Weston to break out a knife and cutting board and get immunity,
A. Price Foundation, the publication of Sandor to chopping some cabbage. Part Two covers a neutralizes
Katz’s The Art of Fermentation, the launch of a few basic concepts, including sauerkraut’s three
bevy of blogs and YouTube videos by at-home key ingredients (bacteria, salt, cabbage) and the toxins and
fermentation experimenters, and other efforts, equipment you will want to have ready before pesticides,
the return to ancient food traditions, though still you get started (most of it is optional, so don’t aids in weight
not mainstream, is slowly gaining ground. be alarmed). Part Three comprises the seven
Howie is trying to speed that process along fundamental steps to creating your first batch, loss, reduces
(although by now she knows a thing or two about as well as a discussion of how to troubleshoot the risk of
patience and timing). Almost twenty years after any potential hang-ups. There are plenty of il-
her first humble batch of sauerkraut, Howie re- lustrative pictures, guidelines, tips and tricks to certain types
mains passionate about all things lacto-ferment- hold your hand along the way. of cancers
ed and wants to share the miraculous microbial After following Howie’s seven fundamental and much
journey with others. In addition to writing this steps a time or two, you should feel ready to
book, she is the founder of MakeSauerkraut. make a foray into Part Four. Here you will not more.

WINTER 2020 Wise Traditions 63