Magic, alchemy, transformation—more than any other culinary technique, fermentation invokes words associated with the casting of spells and ancient mysteries. Although simple in principle, the processes involved in fermentation often resemble arcane rituals. And the consumption of fermented foods is ancient—dating as far back, genetic evidence suggests, as 10 million years. That’s roughly 8.5 million years before evidence of cooking with fire enters the archeological record, which has led some paleoanthropologists to challenge the familiar theory that dinners of charred meat fueled the long, slow evolution of the human brain. What if fermentation, rather than fire, was the secret key to humans becoming what we are?
In this issue of edible New Mexico, we dive into the many ways that fermentation practices survive even in this era of hypermodern food systems. From koji and sourdough in restaurant kitchens to sheep milk yogurt on a young farm, these stories explore the everydayness of fermentation in the lives of local chefs and makers from Taos to Santa Fe to Stanley. For one feature, we drop in on a talk on cheese history and visit with New Mexico’s small but mighty crew of cheesemongers—not cheese makers themselves but curators and tenders of tradition. For another, we get behind the scenes at a pair of breweries run by sustainably minded brothers in downtown Albuquerque. Writing of their community-deep tradition of making natural wine, Brook Brooks compares fermentation to an interspecies dance party. And for our latest stop along the Mother Road, we spotlight cocktail bars that focus on the craft spirits carrying on the legacy of this ancient process.
As more than one maker and writer mention in these pages, fermentation is everywhere. Along with sampling—and learning to recognize—the fermented foods and drinks others are making and serving in your community, we invite you to try your own hand at the magic, courtesy of a set of recipes for Kitchen Counter Ferments. Pair your fermentation adventures with a trip to the Entangled Cultures exhibition at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico, where you can join researchers in mulling over the possibility that humanity’s early ancestors started ingesting fermented things not only because they liked to get buzzed—but because fermented foods helped hominins survive as they ventured into new and different habitats with unfamiliar foods. Now, in our own season of uncertainty, these stories prove that fermentation can be useful to us still.
Magic, alchemy, transformation—more than any other culinary technique, fermentation invokes words associated with the casting of spells and ancient mysteries. Although simple in principle, the processes involved in fermentation often resemble arcane rituals. And the consumption of fermented foods is ancient—dating as far back, genetic evidence suggests, as 10 million years. That’s roughly 8.5 million years before evidence of cooking with fire enters the archeological record, which has led some paleoanthropologists to challenge the familiar theory that dinners of charred meat fueled the long, slow evolution of the human brain. What if fermentation, rather than fire, was the secret key to humans becoming what we are?
In this issue of edible New Mexico, we dive into the many ways that fermentation practices survive even in this era of hypermodern food systems. From koji and sourdough in restaurant kitchens to sheep milk yogurt on a young farm, these stories explore the everydayness of fermentation in the lives of local chefs and makers from Taos to Santa Fe to Stanley. For one feature, we drop in on a talk on cheese history and visit with New Mexico’s small but mighty crew of cheesemongers—not cheese makers themselves but curators and tenders of tradition. For another, we get behind the scenes at a pair of breweries run by sustainably minded brothers in downtown Albuquerque. Writing of their community-deep tradition of making natural wine, Brook Brooks compares fermentation to an interspecies dance party. And for our latest stop along the Mother Road, we spotlight cocktail bars that focus on the craft spirits carrying on the legacy of this ancient process.
As more than one maker and writer mention in these pages, fermentation is everywhere. Along with sampling—and learning to recognize—the fermented foods and drinks others are making and serving in your community, we invite you to try your own hand at the magic, courtesy of a set of recipes for Kitchen Counter Ferments. Pair your fermentation adventures with a trip to the Entangled Cultures exhibition at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico, where you can join researchers in mulling over the possibility that humanity’s early ancestors started ingesting fermented things not only because they liked to get buzzed—but because fermented foods helped hominins survive as they ventured into new and different habitats with unfamiliar foods. Now, in our own season of uncertainty, these stories prove that fermentation can be useful to us still.
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