This is a earnest and well written beginner's guide to home fermentation of foods. It really acts as an overview of most of the common and not-so-common fermented foods and how to make each. Personal anecdotes accompany each chapter and provide good context for the recipes included. I'm a seasoned home brewer and have always wanted to broaded my fermentation horizons. I'm now well into three or four his recipes and have found them to be reliable and accurate. I've recently purchased the author's follow-up tome, appropriately titled "The Art of Fermentation: An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from Around the World" and can't wait to get started reading more about these processes.