Local Fermentation Resources

In addition to what you may find at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, check out the array of fermented products at natural food stores such as Four Seasons Natural Foods in Saratoga Springs.

Additionally, on the From Scratch Club website by local Capital Region food bloggers, a late-January blog post about Water Kefir walked through instructions for creating this popular fizzy, fermented beverage; a subsequent February post covered how to make Milk Kefir.

While it can be hard to find hands-on instruction in winter, once the over-abundant fresh garden produce of summer arrives, check out the classes offered by From Scratch Club through its “DIY School”, as well as sessions offered (in season) by Cornell Cooperative Extension. 

Finding Your Favorite Fermented Flavors

You may have to try a few different fermented products to see what flavors you like best. With such a wide range of fermentation techniques and foods to which they are applied, you likely eat fermented foods quite often without even thinking about it.  The Chow website has a helpful listing of both common and more obscure fermented foods, with photos included.

 In this June 2012 National Public Radio interview with Sandor Katz, a fermented foods expert and author, Katz noted that some people dislike the powerful flavors of certain fermented foods, with appreciation of a given fermented food often being acquired by growing up in a regional culture where that food is prevalent.

In that interview, Katz notes,  “…around the world you find these iconic foods produced by fermentation that create strong, strong flavors that become really markers of cultural identity…in many cases people who have not been raised within the culture…find these foods…very challenging.” 

Wishing you an interesting fermented foods adventure! Chime in with your comments or additional resources, if you’d like.