Fermented

By Bill Brockley Jr

Ever wondered how to create the seemingly magical seasoning, soup bases, ginger beer that you see in the store? You probably thought, "That seems too complicated!" or "I could NEVER do that!!", well I'm hear to tell you, YOU too can make all of those and MORE!!

Hi, my name is Bill Brockley Jr and I am a professional chef and self-taught baker of 10+ years and a fermentation revivalist! I want to take you on the journey of "Fermented", the easy to read and easy to comprehend detailed cookbook of ALL things fermented.

Here you will see that I take the complex science and requirements that are required to make things like soy sauce, miso, ginger beer and break them down into VERY easy to understand writing that will help you make all of those and much, MUCH more...

Will you take this journey with me and learn how to make what you've always wondered about?

Great! I'll see you inside! :)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Dec 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781794714786

Book preview

Preface

I first had this idea of writing a cookbook back in 2015. I was the Sous Chef for an upscale wine bar in Southern Oregon. Not really knowing the exact content it would contain, I just knew one thing: I did not want it to be just a book of recipes. Instead, I wanted it to be a resource book of knowledge and inspiration to one’s own individual creativity.

Still a young cook, I was very unsure of my style of cooking. I was still figuring that out. My insatiable desire to soak up knowledge was always still very prominent, even during the burnt out stages of my career. It took almost five years, becoming an Executive Chef, burning out, moving further north and starting my career over as a line cook to really start piecing together what it is I wanted to cook. My style was becoming clearer and clearer.

I wanted my style of food to be simple and nutritious, ingredient-focused and fermented.

Once I realized this, the goal here became simple. I wanted to create a composition of recipes I have accumulated over the years into a simplistic format for the home cook, who is as eager to learn as I have always been. Making it easy for the home cook to accomplish restaurant quality food within the comfort of their home.

Throughout this book there will be categorical sections of fermented treats and myriad suggestions of how to utilize these different fermentation techniques and recipes to create your own delicious, healthful, and nutritious meals for you and your family.

Fermenting is something that has brought immense passion into my life. Nature is my happy place and being able to witness and promote its beauty and natural occurrences with my own two hands is one of the most exciting and rewarding paths I have had the pleasure of going down. I have traveled up and down the west coast, across the ocean and across the country in search of more knowledge and experiences.

It is my hope to bring that knowledge and passion to this book and to inspire you as the reader.

Acknowledgements

This career has brought many incredible people to enter into my life, people who have touched my life in amazing ways. I would not be where I am today without you. I want to thank the humans who have been this inspiration, motivation, and support for me along the way and who have given me strength, experiences, and knowledge to further both my career and personal growth.

These humans are included but certainly not limited to these individuals.

To Chefs Dennis Sydnor, Jay Versagge, Joseph Cochran and Pastry Chef Leslie Labao in Sacramento, CA, who gave me my first start in the fine dining world and whom all became my first mentors when I was just starting off as a cook in my hometown, fresh out of culinary school. Thank you!

To Chefs Nicholaus Barainca and Johnney Cobey, Arissa LeBrock, Akeem Hasagawa and our dear late friend, Richard (Rick the Dick) Lozano in Santa Barbara, CA, for really showing me true camaraderie, friendship, and dedication to their craft. I still have never met a more passionate, talented, driven and dedicated amazing crew as this one. A million times thank you!

To Jim Piotter and Denise Daehler in Ashland, OR, thank you for believing in me, for pushing me and teaching me to become the chef, leader, manager, and person I am today. It all started with you two for my promotion to Executive Chef. I owe my career to you and am eternally grateful. Love you two!

To Chef Russel Oscan, Sara Drew, Trish Ness and Suzanne Redmond in Seattle, WA for your incredible belief that I was meant for more. For your loving support when I was starting an online retail bakery, available on Instagram and Facebook @True__Bakery . I could have never begun my path to motivation and creation without you guys. Thank you for everything!

To my mother and father for their huge, continued love and support of my passion and career and for always providing me with words of encouragement along the way. And to the rest of my family and friends; I have been and always will be inspired by you all to keep pushing and furthering my career and personal development. Thank you!

In This Book

Fermentation (fur·muhn·tay·shn): the enzyme-catalyzed anaerobic breakdown of an energy-rich compound (such as a carbohydrate to carbon dioxide and alcohol or to an organic acid) by the action of microorganisms (such as bacteria or yeast) that occurs naturally.

Past tense; Fermented.

Simply put, fermentation is the art of taking something as simple as a vegetable and transforming it into something incredible with the help of natural bacteria, yeasts and other microorganisms which are present on all things matter. We’ll start with more simple forms of fermentation starting with Lacto-fermentation, which uses the bacteria Lactobacillus (lack-toe-bass-ill-us) to convert yeast into lactic acid when deprived of oxygen. or simply, submerged in water. There are dozens of strains of Lactobacillus that are found on all plant matter and help us preserve nutrient-rich foods by beginning a pre-digestive stage.

During this pre-digestive breakdown, natural enzymes within a substrate begin to break down the cell walls of the carbohydrates, producing carbon dioxide as a biproduct. This reaction causes heat to develop which essentially softens the substrate as an indirect form of cooking. The final product is a ferment that has been broken down without any direct-heat cooking application (which kills most of the nutrients); thus, making the nutrients more bioavailable, meaning your body absorbs them more effectively and efficiently.

Fermentation and bacteria are everywhere. They are in most foods you consume, the digestive process in the gut, in the molding of fruits and vegetables that have been in the crisper too long, everywhere. They are unavoidable! And why would we? Fermenting your vegetables or sprouting your grains allow that pre-digestion stage to occur so our bodies can receive the nutrients they need. Fermented foods are good for your gut health, digestion, skin, hair and nail, the entirety of a healthy body.

Having witnessed, studied, and researched fermentation through trial and error as well as reading material, I have broken down all these techniques and microbiological terminology into easily digestible information. Making it easier to read and even easier to accomplish within your very own kitchen. Each section will contain a brief description of knowledge and technique to help with the understanding of what it means and where it came from. My wish is that I can share, inspire, and create a spark inside of you, to explore, create and inspire others as well.

There are suggestions for substitutions on equipment and supplies that you may not have in your kitchen as well as recipes with both US and Metric measuring systems. If possible, I would suggest investing in a small and large scale, you can find them online for around $30 for both. I have found that the Metric system is the easiest to follow and produces more accuracy when trying to duplicate or scale down recipes. There is both so you can use whatever you are more comfortable with.

With that being said, I hope you enjoy reading this informative cookbook as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope that you decide to take this guide to places further than myself and beyond. So have fun, make mistakes, learn from them, and go create nutritious food that is Fermented.

Organic. Natural. True!

Lacto-Fermentation

Lacto-fermentation is just a large word to describe a very simple process. Submerge vegetables in salt water. Done. Simplistically speaking, of course. Lacto-fermentation is created by these microscopic bacteria called Lactobacillus. They are found on all plant matter and when deprived of oxygen, turn the sugar in milk (lactose), or in fruits and vegetables (fructose), into lactic acid. This lactic acid is what helps preserve the