A Good Time With Sandor Katz and His New Book at Ferment Brewing Co.

The exterior of the modern Ferment Brewing Co. building as the sun was setting.

On Monday evening I made my way to Ferment Brewing Co. in Hood River for an evening with fermentation legend Sandor Katz to hear him talk about his new book, Sandor Katz’s Fermentation Journeys. He spoke to a more than full house, with eventually close to 60 people sitting in the space and around the perimeter.

Seating on the right, which extended behind me, plus folks in a crowd by the entrance as Sandor Katz was introduced (seated on the left).

Fortunately, I was able to find a seat and got a mocktail to keep me busy while I waited to the event to start. The Marionberry Mint Fizz was really good, made with marionberry puree, mint simple syrup, lemon, and soda water. It had a gorgeous berry color.

The Marionberry Mint Fizz mocktail.

He ended up not doing a demonstration but brought a jar of his Pao Cai (pronounced “pao tsai”) with him, and at the end of the evening anyone who wanted a taste of this Chinese vegetable ferment could have one. It was mildly tart and a little sweet, which makes sense because the brine has a little bit of sugar in it. It was a beautiful rose color.

He explained that he has been using the same brine over and over, adding fresh salt and spices/herbs when he starts a new batch. I believe he said this brine is 2-3 weeks old. The more mature brines help start the fermentation process quicker.

He talked about the book for about 20 minutes, explaining that it’s a collection of ferments that he learned during his worldwide travels. There are a lot of great photos and stories in it. Lots of fascinating recipes. The book feels good to hold in your hands and is well put together.

I was happy to be able to get him to sign it and have a more focused chat. During the Q&A the topic of vitamin K2 came up, and he explained one of the best sources for K2 is natto, a fermented soybean food from Japan. Vitamin K2 is involved in calcium and bone health, and as I take an estrogen blocker, this really piqued my interest. In the book there are suggested ways to consume natto, and in our conversation he mentioned natto made locally in Portland, Wanpaku Natto (I remember them at the last in-person Fermentation Fest). I look forward to checking it out.

The Q&A lasted about 90 minutes, which is pretty substantial for events like this. Questions ran the fermentation gamut—fermented drinks to vegetables to rice to fruit, and alcohol, of course. Some of the things discussed were:

Koji spores and how to avoid breathing them in (hold your breath; mix it with flour)
Troubleshooting the accidental mucilaginous results of a sugarcane ferment and carrot ferment (in each case, starch is likely the culprit)
Why do cucumber pickles get soft sometimes? (temperature issues)
Persimmons as a source of vinegar (you’ll probably create a mother during this simple process!)
Kahm yeast is not mold and it is not dangerous, but it is normal (it often shows up atop vegetable ferments with a PH that is too low)
Bright colored mold is something of concern (think bright orange or pink)
Natto can often carry flavors similar to what you might find in Camembert cheese (though it grosses a lot of people out)
Fermenting soy breaks the phytoestrogens in it (good news for hormone-oriented breast cancer survivors)
You can also dehydrate natto and mix it with sesame seeds and a few other things for a kind of “secret sauce” (the nutrient density of the natto is not damaged by the dehydration)
Fermented foods will not stop you from getting COVID (though good gut health from eating fermented foods does help the immune system)
If you cook fermented foods, it does suppress the friendly bacteria but there are other things in fermented foods that are beneficial to health (like increased nutrition and bioavailability)

One interesting tidbit he brought up is that oftentimes people will talk about something like preserving vegetables and they will say “you can either pickle it or ferment it.” Sandor’s point was that fermentation and pickling are not necessarily separate things in certain cases.

While standing in line to get my book signed I overheard someone associated with the brewery talk about how awesome it was to host this event and have so many people come by to hear Sandor Katz talk about fermentation. I think it was a really positive experience for everyone.

If you want to get familiar with fermentation in Portland, the Fermentation Festival is a fantastic opportunity to experience a lot of fermentation traditions all in one place, but it’s unclear when the next one will be. Fermenter, a restaurant in SE Portland, is a wonderful spot (they’ll be holding a workshop and dinner on Saturday night with Sandor, but it is sold out). Of course, head to the PSU Farmers Market and Vivienne on Saturday morning and afternoon, respectively, December 4 to experience Sandor as he promotes his book and talks about fermentation.

Sandor Katz + fermentation + a new book = good times. I hope you will check out his public events this week in Portland, too.