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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2013
This book was alright. It contains some interesting scientific history, but overall scientific rigor was lacking. That probably wasn't the point of the book, but the often repeated luddite reactions to "western" science and the scorn for microbiology were off-putting. Aside from the information on fermentation, this book is really full of social commentary which favors anti-technical artisanal production of food. Basically it's a recipe for starvation and stagnation. The irony here is not lost on me. The actual recipes were comprehensive and informative, with good tips for qualitative troubleshooting, and reassurances that it will go wrong some time. The focus is on simplicity, which is likely good for the average person attempting a fermentation in their spare time. However, some quantitative information (e.g. pH and temperature) is cheap and easy to obtain, yet totally absent from this book. Anyone attempting a fermentation likely has access to some pH strips and a thermometer, and these tools are essential for making reliable fermentations. All in all, this book is 50% useful, the other 50% is foolish rubbish which should have been used to expand the qualitative instructions with quantitative information.
