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The Fermented Man

A Year on the Front Lines of a Food Revolution

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The Fermented Man

Written by: Derek Dellinger
Narrated by: Sean Crisden
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About this listen

On January 1, 2014, homebrewer and writer Derek Dellinger began a journey that would change nearly everything he thought he knew about fermented food and beverage - and as a beer expert, he knew a lot. For an entire year, Dellinger would eat or drink only products that had been created by microbes. Exploring the vast world of fermentation, Dellinger became the living embodiment of its cultural and nutritional power - he became the Fermented Man.

In this entertaining and informative narrative, Dellinger catalogs his year spent on this unorthodox diet, revealing insights about the science of fermentation, as well as its cultural history, culinary value, and nutritional impact along the way. He goes beyond yogurt and sauerkraut to show us how fermentation occurs in a wide range of foods we might never have expected, and is at the root of many unique delicacies around the world. From foraging for living bacteria in the modern American grocery store, to sampling mucousy green Century Eggs in Chinatown, to an epic winter quest to Iceland for rotten shark meat, Dellinger investigates a realm of forgotten foods that is endlessly complex and surprisingly flavorful.

©2016 Derek Dellinger (P)2017 Tantor
Biological Sciences Food & Wine Science Food Science Inspiring
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What the critics say

"Dellinger ably explains the wide range of fermented foods, the role flavor plays, health benefits, and the basic processes, and he includes a few recipes." ( Kirkus)

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I enjoyed it despite its flaws

I'm a fan of all things fermented and so was interested in the concept of this book.

The book had its interesting moments and might serve as a nice introduction to fermentation. It was, however, rather slow paced and perhaps too long for what it was.

The book also oddly didn't answer the question I had wondered about. After a year of eating only fermented food what was his gut like? No answer.

Furthermore, he was oddly terrible at living in his diet. He admits to mostly just eating shocking quantities of bread and cheese for most of his food. This is kind of a slap in the face to the many diets based on tempeh, fermented lentils, fermented vegetable dishes (jota, or Sichuan fermented vegetable stir-fries). The list goes on. Its truly odd how, given a whole year to experiment, he didn't land on a diet consisting of such things but instead complained about not getting enough calories from mostly eating bread and cheese all the time.

Despite these complaints I did enjoy the book despite its flaws.

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