Wild – because the creatures doing the work are untamed

Fermentation – because these creatures transform the product the are within; an alchemy of chemistry and biology.

This is an ancient process. It is not too far removed from ‘rotting’ and it is utterly distinct from ‘rotting’. Yet we must acknowledge that one culture’s gastronomic delicacy is another’s disgust – depending on your persuasion, just think of Roquefort – blue pungent cheese from France, Kiviaq – fermented whole feathered birds from the Inuit lands, miso – blackened fermented soy beans from Japan. Perhaps the only conclusion, is that we humans have a strong tendency towards fermenting the world over, and the resulting products are some of the most important and delicious foods that we know.

Across the board, we humans have, over the years, come to understand the processes and phenomena of fermentation well enough to create a majestic diversity of fermented foods. From bread, wine and cheese to kimchi, tea and miso to coffee, chocolate and beer – it is clear that our diets and our guts would not be the same were it not for this symbiosis with micro-organisms down the ages. And yet, somehow, the last century has still managed to conceive ‘the war on bacteria’ and the attempt to paint the label of evil onto all things microscopic. Of course, now we are coming to know better (as if we ever didn’t know better!) and an exciting and growing awareness of the depth and complexity of our symbiosis with the microscopic beasts around us is dawning.

In this case then, and in short, wild fermentation is the alchemical transformation of a food product in a carefully designed environment by the action of microorganisms. Kimchi and sauerkraut are made by creating an anaerobic, slightly salty environment for the prepared vegetables to sit in for a period of weeks. During this time, the naturally occurring microorganisms that thrive in such conditions will prosper and lead to the acidifying of the environment. Bacterial populations will come, change the ecosystem, and go again, making way for new families which can thrive in the new conditions. The end result not only contains millions of little creatures that can benefit your gut flora, but is also a product that has incredible flavour and is more easily digestible the it was to begin with.

Wild fermentation is also an act of resistance, in the face of the globalised and homogenised food industries. It is something unarguably local and diverse.

Not only that, it also brings the word ‘culture’ home to roost. Culture, that thing that was born from the land and the people who worked with the land. That thing that was different between here and there and over there. Culture, born of the differences between places, the differences between the ways of life of the people who lived in those different places. The particular songs and dances here, the ceremonies and recipes there, and the types and rhythms of work over there. Before culture ended up in the museums and art galleries of large cities, it populated the land, and everyone knew that it was born from the land. Well, cultured food, then, brings some of that culture home. Home to the relationships between me and the vegetables and the microorganisms – all of whom live here. Home to the songs that may be sung about the work that we do, home to the recipes that may be made with the foods that we have, home to the stories that may be told about the ways that we live.