Review and Giveaway: Real Food Fermentation
Not until I read Real Food Fermentation by Alex Lewin did I understand the scope of fermenting our own food. With each and every page I read, I feel like Alex and I would become friends if we ever had the chance to meet. The way Lewin writes about produce and food-prep demonstrates a loving, and healthy relationship with nutrition – a relationship most of us would admit we need to work on. . Nutritional accountability drives me to buy local, to buy seasonal and to “shop the perimeter” when at a market and now that I have introduced fermenting into my life, I understand that this approach to food preservation is not that different than using a refrigerator to keep our food from spoiling. I love this book, and I am giving away a copy so you can fall in love with it too.
Fermented food isn’t hippie foodfound in the aisle of Whole Foods. Yogurt, cider and sauerkraut are all fermented foods. Pickled cucumbers, olives and yogurt are more common place examples of foods that have been preserved so and enjoyed later. Fermenting is simply a chemical-free approach to food preservation. The process comes to life when reading Real Food Fermentation as chapters focus on different food groups and almost every page is rich with high quality photography.
I’ve long thought about making kimchi at home and Real Food Fermentation makes this an attainable goal, highlighting that fermenting is a technique that is forgiving of imperfections and does not require any special equipment.
It’s not just the recipes and photography that grab me when reading this book. I feel like the author just gets food. This book isn’t about dinner shortcuts or processed foods. It’s about whole living. It’s a book dedicated to people that want to cut the chemical content on their food, eat well and have fun while cooking for the people they love, and it’s summed up perfectly in this one sentence
When we make our own food we regain control over our lives.
In our home, we cook daily. We pay attention to where we buy our ingredients and what we put into our bodies. When I put the wrong food in my body, I know about it. I am sluggish, tired and grumpy. Eating well is not difficult and Lewin’s book gives step by step and visual instructions that will give you the tools to make sure there is always a healthy choice in your kitchen.
I read a lot of cook books. I find the things I like about them, make a few dishes and add them to my collection, perhaps referring to them every so often for a seasonal dish or something my memory asks me to revisit. Occasionally, a book will break free from the fated book case (one example is Culinary Artistry
which I must review for you one day) and carry the dog-eared signs of a much loved, much used, reference in the kitchen. Real Food Fermentation has already earned a permanent spot in my kitchen and I invite you to enter my giveaway to win a copy of your own.
Although I am not officially part of the Real Food Fermentation Blog Tour, you might want to check out some of these reviews of this book. Some of them also have the chance to win a copy of the book, just mention that This American Bite sent you!
November 8, 2012: Nourishing Treasures
November 7, 2012: Empowered Sustenance
November 6, 2012: Holistic Squid
November 5, 2012: Too Many Jars In My Kitchen
November 4, 2012: Ditch The Wheat
November 3, 2012: Learning And Yearning
November 2, 2012: Unmistakably Food
November 1, 2012: Honest to Goodness Living
October 31, 2012: Homemade Mommy
October 30, 2012: RealFoodEater
Photo credit: Chiot’s Run via Homemade Mommy
