Fermentation, the secret charm of gastronomy

Text by: Thomas Bourdeau Follow

The whole planet eats fermented products without even knowing it. Delicious to the taste, these products that work alone in the kitchen are also excellent for health: our microbiota loves them. Diving, in the company of an expert in fermentation, in the heart of an international cuisine which has been flirting since time immemorial with "rotten" to the delight of the taste buds.

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In Italy, a few drops of a secret sauce of fermented anchovies can enhance a pasta dish, in Asia no meal without sauce of fermented fish or soy sauce, also fermented ... Far from spoiling the meal, the "good rotten" »Would it be a guarantee of good taste? This is the statement of Marie-Claire Frédéric, a French expert in fermentation techniques, for whom the strategy of rotting in the kitchen often seems the best: " Fermentation should not have this negative connotation, wonderful things happen when a fruit takes time to ripen to the core… ”

Chemically, “ fermentation corresponds to a drop in product pH thanks to the contribution of specific bacteria. The process thus inhibits the growth of microorganisms ”, explains Jean-Christophe Augustin, from the French Academy of Agriculture. When the medium becomes sufficiently acidic (a pH around 4), the bacteria are themselves inhibited. The product becomes stable, which allows “ a long conservation ”.

Marie-Claire Frédéric studies these chemical processes used in world cuisine. His books mix history and cooking recipes. She recently owned a restaurant and runs workshops there. It was in this that she explained the secrets of fermentation to us, surrounded by colorful jars and surprising bottles.

" We eat fermented products," rotten "without knowing it ! "

“ I was first interested in the history and geography of food. Since prehistoric times, fermented foods have been found in all gastronomic cultures, without exception. In France, we put our great wines, our prestigious cheeses, the baguette to the pinnacle ... and these are fermented foods! »Cheeses, wines, vegetables, cold meats, fruits… All rotten! And we love it!

The thrilling story of fermentation and people. Marie-Claire Frédéric takes us to Ancient Egypt, to the Mesopotamians, the Greeks, the Mayans, the Chinese, the American migrants. https://www.alma-editeur.fr/

A pendulum return in favor of healthy food

A new craze for fermented products comes to us from the United States and one might be surprised because in this hygienic country microbes are unwelcome, everything is sanitized and industrial food. Paradox? No, just a little history: " The settlers from Eastern Europe fled persecution and brought in their luggage their gastronomic culture based on fermentation : sauerkraut, pickles, pickles ... This type of food prepared with house escaped American commercial and industrial circuits ”. Just back from pendulum in favor of healthy food, they return to the tables. The writer Sandor Ellix Katz really launched the movement across the Atlantic with his book Fermentation naturelle, the revolution of living foods , which has become a reference. The trendy American tables are, through him, covered with kombucha , kefir , sauerkraut, kimchi ... It became The fermentation revolution skillfully described also in the book by Quebecers David Coté and Sébastien Bureau.

► Also listen : It sparkles, it vibrates, it lives, fermentation is good!

"Fermentation Revolution", at Éditions de l'Homme. Mathieu Dupuis

The historic setbacks of fermentation symbolize a whole section of gastronomy that has become hygienic when losing the notion of taste. The history of the camembert is symptomatic: “ Originally very handcrafted, it was white with red, greyish, even blue spots on its surface due to the mold that colonized it. Sold in the halls of Paris at the very end of the 19th century, the Parisians preferred the whiter, while the grays and reds remained on the stalls. In order to produce the whitest pie charts possible, the producers turned to the Institut Pasteur. However, the ripening cellars had to be disinfected in order to eradicate the bacteria responsible for blue and red mold. Marie-Claire Frédéric concludes: " Today's camembert is no longer the original camembert, it has neither the taste nor the color ".

Fermentation is the anti-standardization of food

" Pasteur had discovered those responsible for fermentation, the famous micro-organisms, but unfortunately when he saw them teeming with thousands, it scared him! So the habit changes continued in order to kill germs and bacteria from our plates. It is true that they are also responsible for diseases such as tuberculosis and diphtheria. But fear was transmitted to our plates, to remove the "good rotten" in an unreasonable way: " We started to sterilize everything. Added to this was the development of the food industry, a fan of standardized products of uniform quality. An industry that wants everything to taste the same throughout the year, regardless of the place of production! Fermentation is the anti-standardization of food.

" Our microbiota needs this enrichment in living food "

" Fortunately, scientists and medicine go back and make their third revolution! First revolution: asepsis, the vaccines that have helped eradicate diseases. The second: the discovery of antibiotics. " Currently, medicine is discovering an unknown world, it is this third revolution which is looking into our microbiota (the microorganisms that are found in the digestive tract) without which we would not be alive. Until now, we had only seen the negative sides of microorganisms, but now we are discovering their positive sides. “ And the fermented products help to communicate better with this microbiota. Eating fermented food, which is alive, therefore, satisfies our body which expects to receive living food. This is the credo of Sandor Katz and of the precursors of fermentation. Thanks to fermentation, foods increase their vitamin or antioxidant content, a cabbage that has become sauerkraut sees its vitamin content increase by up to 200%! “ Our microbiota needs these microorganisms from fermentation. They will work with it, maintain our immune system and help us defend ourselves against disease . "

Sandor Ellix Katz has initiated a culinary revolution in the United States and around the world. His book: "Natural Fermentations", Editions Ulmer. © Shane Carpenter

The " colatura di alici ", a very noble fermentation

However, the taboo continues! You never dare say in the kitchen that it is fermented, even a little "rotten". " We rather like to say that the wine is aged, the dried sausage, the ripened cheese, the matured meat ... ", smiles Marie-Claire Frédéric, " as if fermentation had this negative side which evokes something of the past, more very good to eat, when not, and it's even much better! "

The historian details that since always, " the rotten fish sauce has existed all over the world. "In Africa, there are so many fermented products like adjuevan in Ivory Coast, lanhouin in Benin and guedj in Senegal. " 3000 years BC. AD, the flagship sauce of gastronomy was called garum . Pliny the Elder details his recipe which turns out to be identical to that of Vietnamese nuoc mam ! In Italy, a product still looks like garum : the Colatura di alici made in Cetara, in the Gulf of Salerno. Giovanni Passerini, Italian chef explains: “ The colatura di alici di Cetara is the result of an anchovy salting which requires a lot of time. The fish is caught, put on salt without passing through fresh water. It is a very strong product, but the result of a very noble fermentation, I have never found the same finesse elsewhere, it is very elegant. In Italy, it is used for pasta with garlic, a little olive oil, perhaps chili. "

▼ Giovanni Passerini, explains how we use this complex and rare sauce ▼

® Photo: www.saporideisassi.it

" Our tastes were built with the exhilaration of fermentation"

Writer Amélie Nothomb likes to say provocatively that she loves rotten fruit. However, as Marie-Claire Frédéric explains, " these" rotten "fruits are not only much better tasting and have better potential for vitamins and living microorganisms ... " Amélie Nothomb has very different tastes normal in short, linked to our journey as an amateur of good food ... Scientists have thus found that monkeys prefer very ripe fruits which can intoxicate them after eating a quantity. And Marie-Claire Frédéric to illustrate: “ In summer, when it's very hot, linger under the foliage of a fruit tree. You will breathe an air subtly invaded by the alcohol of the fallen fruit. A gentle intoxication will invade your senses. Our tastes were built like this, with the exhilaration of fermentation ”. Health!

"Fermentation Revolution", at Éditions de l'Homme. Fermentation Revolution

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