Disclosure: I received a copy of the book, Real Food Fermentation, as part of a review for the book blog tour.  All opinions expressed are mine.

I love this book called, Real Food Fermentation by Alex Lewin.  If you don’t know what the book is about by its title, it is about preserving whole foods with living cultures.

Why do I love this book so much?  I’m starting to get into fermentation and I’m clueless about what to do.  Do you hear everywhere to eat raw sauerkraut?  Don’t buy the stuff in the store because it is not a living culture…it’s all confusing.  Eat this fermented item not that item that is preserved.  I find it frustrating.  With this book, it’s like Alex is holding my hand, guiding me through everything.  Not just everything but showing me step-by-step photos so I won’t have any blonde moments.  Thankfully, you even learn how to “double insure” your fermented batches.  There is trouble shooting tips because who wants to throw out a whole batch of kombucha when something looks wrong.  Definitely a must-have book for the novice.

If your skill level is beyond mine because you already knew how to ferment sauerkraut, you’ll still get excited over this book since it offers recipes for fermenting fruits, vegetables, meat (corned beef), dairy and even making coconut milk yogurt.  Once I conquer sauerkraut you know I’ll be making some coconut milk yogurt!  Lewin goes through the history of fermenting and talks about the science.

Who is this author who created such an amazing book?  Alex Lewin is a graduate of the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts and the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.  Before that he studied software engineer and math at Harvard.  He created the first fully illustrated guide to fermenting.  His passion for nutrition started when his father became sick and passed away.  Lewin took his health to a new level.  He is currently part of the board of the Boston Public Market Association.  He teaches fermentation classes around the Boston area.  On top of all of that he runs his blog, Feed Me Like You Mean It.

Wow, what a guide it is.  I really love this book!  Sorry I keep mentioning that but it truly is not just a book but a very detailed guide on a subject we should all be thinking about.  Fermenting something, growing a living culture and nourishing our bodies with that culture…

Key Benefits of Fermenting Food – taken from page 35 of the book:

• Preserves and sometimes enhances vitamin & enzyme content of food
• Healthy alternative to preservative chemical additives (in many of the store bought preserved foods)
• Makes nutrients in foods more available to the body
• Cuts down on digestive problems caused by some foods (if you have gut problems you need some fermented foods)

I think you should buy the book and learn fermenting with me!  The book is truly worth every penny of the paperback retail price of $14.73.  We can chat on twitter while we sip our homemade kombucha.

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Alex is so nice that he is allowing two books to be given to readers of Ditch The Wheat.  To participate in the contest you have to enter your information into Rafflecopter, comment below why you would like to start fermenting and subscribe to my email subscription (if you are already a subscriber please mention it in the comments). You must do all of that to participate.  This contest is open to everyone, including all countries.  This contest will be open until Friday, November 9^th at 12:01 am.  Two winners will be announced on Friday, November 9^th after the winners have been contacted.

*Giveaway Closed*

On Monday, November 5^th head on over to Too Many Jars In My Kitchen for her review of Real Food Fermentation.

What are you going to ferment first?

Enjoy,