Not only for Southern culture, this book is a fermenter's bible

Book Review of Southern Culture on the Fizz: An Effervescent Guide to Fermented Foods and Beverages from the American South, by Brett Taubman

As a new homesteader and former resident of the American South (Texas), I was keen on learning more about fermenting. Specifically, I was hoping to find recipes that I could use in my warm Mexico climate. I mentioned in a previous post that my first attempts at fermenting were failures, in part because of where I live. Those little fermenting bugs do not like 80+ degree weather! What's a Southern gal to do?

Well, as my neighbor used to say, thank the Sweet Baby Jesus that Brett Taubman wrote Southern Culture on the Fizz. This is a book that bubbles over with information about fermenting-- how to do it, the science behind it, the history of how it developed in the South, and tasty recipes you can make at home.

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Before we jump in, let me take a moment to fawn over the author. Doctor Brett Taubman has a Ph.D. in chemistry, and he is the director of fermentation sciences at Appalachian State University. He piloted an instructional research brewing facility on the ASU campus, and his research interests include things like beer chemistry, koji fermentations, and gluten free brewing. He's the real deal! He also dedicated his book in part to to his students, with an apology for having to endure "endless hours of monologues and dad jokes." He seems like the kind of guy you'd like to have over for a beer. (Just make sure the beer is from some nice local brewery and not something gross like Keystone Light.)

Now let's look at the Table of Contents:

The first part is all about fermentation in the South: Past, Background, Present, and Future.

Then, the recipes, which all look delicious. Pineapple Habanero Fermented Pepper Jelly? Yes please!

• Part One: Fruits and Vegetables

• Part Two: Meats

• Part Three: Dairy

• Part Four: Fermented Beverages and Alcohol

Here we see that all the usual fermentation actors are included, like yogurt and kombucha. Taubman also includes interesting twists on familiar offerings, like watermelon tepache (a Mexican fermented drink that's usually made with pineapple).

The book starts with an introduction to fermentation and Southern culinary culture. Taubman explains why the two go so well together:

"The hot climate and largely agricultural nature of the South also led to another southern culinary tradition—fermentation as a means of preserving foods." It makes sense. No one down here has root cellars, because it floods. Pressure canners are expensive. And the humidity makes dehydration all but impossible without modern appliances.

Occasionally I felt in over my head with the science bits, but Taubman understands that we don't all have chemistry degrees and he does a good job of explaining the chemical processes behind fermentation. I even learned the difference between lactic acid fermentation and alcoholic fermentation, two processes I was only fuzzily aware of before. The sections on whiskey, beer, cider and wine are very detailed-- clearly this is Taubman's favorite area, and if you're on the science-y side you will enjoy it as well. I found the historical parts interesting but skipped over the processes, as I'm probably never making whiskey at home. I may go back and look at cider, but as apples are not abundant in my part of Mexico I'm probably not making that either.

Other things I didn't know I was going to learn:

• Why I used to be able to drink in college, but I have a terrible reaction to alcohol now. Some people have semi- or nonfunctional alcohol dehydrogenase enzymes, which is what you need to metabolize alcohol. When you get older and stop drinking as often, these enzymes get fewer, so that's why today one stiff drink can knock me on my ass.

• Why wine turns into vinegar (too much acetic acid).

• Why "nitrate-free" meat does in fact contain nitrates- the nitrates just come from a different source.

• A lot of sausage that I love is fermented, including chorizo which I learned has to ferment for two days.

• At the time of American colonization, beer was safer to drink than water. Also, the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock instead of their original Virginia destination because they had gotten lost, it was already December, and they were almost out of beer.

• Cheese is often described like wine, with "notes of buttery potato and fresh corn," or "reminiscent of walnuts, cultured butter, and sauteed mushrooms," or my favorite, "wrapped in fig leaves soaked in Tennessee whiskey, and that tastes of candied bacon, toasted coconut, and cacao nibs." Yum!

• I now understand why my homemade yogurt, while it tastes good, always comes out really thin and runny. I need to hold it at a high temperature for longer than 10 minutes, before I bring the temperature down and let the Lactobacillus do its thing.

• I also learned about shmooing, which is how yeast cells hybridize, and the word shmoo actually comes from a weird white rubbery cartoon character called Shmoo that I used to watch in the 70s.

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that humans consume no more than about 4 ounces of kombucha per day. This is to prevent metabolic acidosis, a condition that occurs when your blood becomes too acidic. (I did inform Lurko that this was a thing, but he continues to chug pickle juice like it's water and it doesn't seem to affect him.)

Pickle juice, probably not fermented.

But back to the recipes. The recipes range from simple sauerkraut to more complicated ferments like sausage and misos. Yes, there are Asian ferments in this book. I suppose the only thing Southern about kimchi is there are a lot of folks in the South who enjoy it, so sure, let's include it. And I'm not mad about it. It seems like every basic fermentation technique has been included, as well as a few advanced techniques. I am going to enjoy learning every one! Oh- and yes, the majority of these recipes do seem to work in warmer climates. A few need to be cooler, but they are pretty specific about which ones, as well as what you can do if you live in the South and don't have a root cellar.

My zero-waste heart also very much appreciated that the author included tips in his recipes on how to use the normally-discarded parts of ingredients. For example, the watermelon recipes suggest pickling the rinds rather than throwing them away. In a hot sauce recipe, the author advises saving the solids and dehydrating them, so you can also have chili powder. Waste not, want not!

The book ends with a discussion of the health benefits of a healthy gut biome, and how fermented food and drink contribute to our physical and mental health. And the good Doctor cites science, proving that this is real and not some hippie woo-woo stuff. I learned that 70% of our immune system is located in our gut, so I can see how we might feel bad if the "good" gut bacteria is out of whack. There's also been a lot of studies done on how depression is linked to the presence or absence of "good" bacteria in the gut. If we remember to eat our vegetables, all that extra fiber gives our healthy gut bacteria more to eat. And of course, if we ferment at home, that will encourage even more healthy bacteria in our environment.

I found Southern Culture on the Fizz to be informative and delightful. It will appeal to fermenters of all levels, whether you're just learning how to do sauerkraut or you want to stuff a giant sausage that looks like an alien larva (this is how Taubman describes a Tom Thumb sausage). And of course, if you're into home brewing you will learn everything you could possibly want to know about fermenting all kinds of booze. That's why I'm calling this the Fermenter's Bible. You will learn a lot and refer to it often!

You can order the paperback or eBook version from Bookshop, and that way you can support me and your local bookstore. Thanks, and have fun with fermenting!

Here's what you can look forward to in the next few posts:

7/2: My Roof is Leaking and It's Rainy Season

7/6: Planting in the New Moon

7/9: Helping Out the Parental Units

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