Noma's Controversial Cookbook
March Book Club: Foundations of Flavour: The Noma Guide to Fermentation by René Redzepi & David Zilber
When I first picked up Foundations of Flavour: The Noma Guide to Fermentation I was completely ignorant of the famous nordic restaurant known for it’s obsession with revolutionary flavour, foraging and fermentation.
It wasn’t until Noma’s closure hit the media and its controversy started to rise to the surface like mould on a cherished sauerkraut, that I went back and had a nosy look at this book.
Disclosure: This book review solely focuses on “Foundations of Flavour: The Noma Guide to Fermentation” and does not comment on the broader topics regarding Noma’s restaurant.
Google The Noma Guide to Fermentation and you’ll find book reviews ranging from “fiddly and complicated”, “illuminating and stingy” and “fascinating but absolutely impractical”, to “the holy grail of fermentation” and “this book is crack for any chef or person genuinely passionate”.
With such a variety of opinions, how do you know if René Redzepi and David Zilber's literary brainchild is worth your time?
Don’t worry, I’ll guide you through the basic layout, highlights and criticisms so that you can decide of yourself.
A Quick Look Inside the Book
The No. 1 issue with this book, has nothing to do with the book itself, but instead the readers expectations. Whether it’s assumed that “guide to fermentation” means covering all fermentation methods, or that the association with Noma garners a certain standard of prestige; either way, I highly recommend putting aside your assumptions and firstly reading the “About This Book” chapter (yes, that part of the book everyone skips). René Redzepi does a fantastic job outlining exactly that to expect, going into great detail about three important components:
Fermentations Included ✅
René states from the very beginning…
“This book is a comprehensive tour of the ferments we employ at Noma, but it is by no means an encyclopaedic guide…”
The description on the front says “Including koji, kombucha, shoyus, miso, vinegars, garum, lacto-ferments and black fruit and vegetables”.
The term “including” wrongly suggests that there are additional fermentation methods in this book, which there are not. A more accurate (although less catchy) title would have been, “The Noma Guide to Seven Types of Fermentation (plus black fruit and veg)”.
You may be disappointed at this small figure, but don’t worry, what they lack in number, Noma makes up for in creativity and inspiration.
The first two chapters are beginner friendly (lacto-fermentation and kombucha), then there’s a steep nose dive into intermediate (vinegar) and advanced ferments (koji, miso, shoyu, garum). Koji is a huge topic that lays the foundation for the chapters on miso and shoyu (soy sauce), so if you’re interested in koji, you’ll love the majority of content.
Chapter Layout 📖
The eight chapters on fermentation follow a four-part format.
History and Scientific Mechanism: If you’re interested in where miso originated or the detailed chemistry involved in creating vinegars, the beginning of each chapter will satisfy your curiosity. This section ranges from a few paragraphs to a few pages, depending on the fermentation. I found the science of koji particularly interesting.
In-depth Base Recipe: The first recipe of every chapter walks you through the basics of each fermentation method. It is important to learn this base recipe, as it serves as foundational knowledge for every subsequent recipe in the chapter.
Variations: Noma is known for pushing the boundaries of standard ferments. In this section you’ll learn how to elevate the base recipe using different ingredients and slightly altered methods. Here’s a sneak peak of what you’ll discover…
Lacto-fermention: Mushroom, tomato water, honey-scented honey.
Kombucha: Rose, coffee, maple, mango.
Vinegar: Celery, butternut squash, whisky, black garlic balsamic.
Koji: Sparkling citric amazake, koji flour, roasted koji “mole”.
Miso: Hazelnut, rose peaso, maizo.
Shoyu: Yellow pea, cep, coffee.
Garum: Shrimp, grasshopper, bee pollen.
Black Fruit and Vegetables: Apples, chestnuts, shallots.
Applications: Examples of how each fermentation can be used as a foundation of flavour in a meal or beverage. These short informal recipes don’t have an ingredients list, measurements or exact method because “specifics aren’t nearly as important as the possibilities”.
Fermentations Excluded ❌
There are four main fermentation topics absent from this book, and here’s why.
Alcohol: Noma often ferments sugar into alcohol, but it’s not for drinking. It’s the first stage of their vinegar creating process. Instead of brewing in-house, they happily leave the work to brewers and winemakers, and “don’t pretend to be masters of their domain”.
Charcuterie: Noma is famous for its autumnal menu featuring incredible game dishes; however meat fermentation in this book is limited to a chapter on garum (fish sauce). Noma plans to explore fermented meats in the future, but haven’t put their money where their mouth is, as of yet. Thus, no charcuterie in this book.
Bread: Simply put, “bread could take up—and deserves—its own separate discussion”.
Dairy: While they leave the aged artisanal cheese to the experts, Noma does make their own yogurt, créme fresh, and fresh unfermented cheese. Perhaps, like bread, dairy deserves its own book.
If you’re wanting to learn any of these four fermentations methods, then you’ve got the wrong book. But that doesn’t mean this book is subpar. Noma simply gives these topics the respect they deserve by not including them.
Highlights
Revolutionary Inspiration: Noma has built its reputation on prodigious menu’s that reinvent food as we know it. Therefore it’s no surprise that they would give you a taste of their creativity in this book. If you’re seeking an injection of inspiration, go straight to the application section of the chapters…read about the food, imagine the vibrant colours and intoxicating smells. Let it infuse your mind with curiosity and excitement. Only after you can nearly taste the dish, should you go back and learn the base recipe and its variations.
Detailed and Simple Methods: The Noma Guide to Fermentation really does prioritise guiding you through each recipe by providing both a detailed written method and a corresponding pictorial version with dot-point instructions. These two approaches give a well rounded understanding of each fermentation, as well as easy instructions to refer back to.
Authors Attitude: In the “About the Book” section, René acknowledges that readers may feel intimidated by certain ferments, and may not have access to specific ingredients. That’s okay. Even if you try to make something once (e.g. vinegar, miso, black fruit), then decide it’s too much effort, at least you’ve learn’t a little more about how it’s made and hopefully have a new found respect for the product. René hopes that you will be encouraged to buy the product instead, and be inspired to experiment with it in a variety of new ways.
Constructive Criticism
Not Enough Photos: Anyone interested in Nomas varied and elaborate menu may be disappointed to know that within the 455 pages of this book, there are less than 20 photos of Nomas exquisite dishes. Plenty of photographs of step-by-step recipe instructions, but they serve a functional instead of inspirational, purpose. With a multitude of variations and applications for each recipe; corresponding visual presentation would have given an extra dose of excitement and motivation.
Formatting and Book Size: A book this big may seem impressive, but its annoyingly heavy and could honestly have been condensed to half its current size. There’s a lot of wasted, blank space. The page numbers are pretentiously large and the recipes are only written on one half of the page (they definitely could have fit a second column). This contributes to the “stingy” feeling expressed in some reviews. The same quantity of content formatted into a smaller sized book would have underpromised and over delivered, which is much better than the other way round.
Target Audience: René expresses that his…
“…main goal was to translate what we do in the restaurant to the home kitchen.”
Although the ferments covered in this book can be achieved in a home kitchen, most of them are definitely not suited to beginner home fermenters; hence the book being viewed as “complicated and impractical”.
If you’re somewhat experienced in using bacteria, yeast and moulds to transform your foods, and want to up your game with these specific ferments, then you’ll froth this book.
Unfortunately is you’re a fermenting newbie, you’ll probably become overwhelmed by some of the methods and required equipment (e.g. fermentation chamber).
Who Should Read This Book?
Intermediate and adventurous beginner fermenters.
Readers interested in koji, kombucha, shoyus, miso, vinegars, garum, lacto-ferments and black fruit and vegetables.
Readers looking for creative inspiration and alternative ways to implement standard methods of fermentation.
Conclusion
As a beginner/intermediate fermenter, I really loved flicking through this book. A lot of it was way beyond my understanding, but I didn’t let that overwhelm me. Instead I used it as inspiration to push myself and try new methods.
If you use this book to experiment and further your skills, you will be a better fermenter for it. Enjoy!
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What Do You Think?
Have you read Foundations of Flavour: The Noma Guide to Fermentation?
What were your favourite parts? Any constructive critisism?