¡°To ferment your own food is to lodge a small but eloquent protest... against the homogenization of flavors and food experiences now rolling like a great, undifferentiated lawn across the globe.¡±
So wrote American journalist and food historian Michael Pollan in 2013¡¯s ¡°Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation.¡± Indeed, as I tasted for myself on an October visit to a dozen miso, shoyu and sake producers in the north-central Hokuriku region, there is a dazzling diversity in traditional Japanese fermentation, not only in the types of foods it can create but in the bewildering variety of flavors in still-fermenting substrates.
Few who¡¯ve tasted unpasteurized shoyu freshly pressed from moromi (raw mash) or °ì¨Âá¾± (Aspergillus oryzae mold) rice still glistening from the steamer would disagree. It¡¯s a wonder all its own that Japanese ³ó²¹°ì°ì¨ (fermentation) masters can turn humble soybeans into miso and shoyu of unparalleled quality and complexity.
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