Robertson, Chad. Tartine Bread. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2010. Terrific book that manages to instruct and delight in equal measure.
Roussel, Philippe, and Hubert Chiron. Les pains Français: evolution, qualité, production. Vesoul: Mae-Erti, 2002.
Thorne, John. Outlaw Cook. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1992. See the section “The Baker’s Apprentice.”
Wing, Daniel, and Alan Scott. The Bread Builders: Hearth Loaves and Masonry Ovens. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 1999. Contains an excellent discussion of sourdough microbiology as well as an interview with Chad Robertson done when he was baking in Point Reyes.
Wood, Ed. Classic Sourdoughs. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 2001.
On Nutrition and Bread
Cordain, Loren. “Cereal Grains: Humanity’s Double-Edged Sword.” World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics. Vol. 84. Basel, Switzerland: Karger (1999): 19–73.
Czapp, Katherine. “Against the Grain.” Published on the Web site of The Weston A. Price Foundation, July 16, 2006. http://www.westonaprice.org/digestive-disorders/against-the-grain.
Di Cagno, Raffaella, et al. “Sourdough Bread Made from Wheat and Nontoxic Flours and Started with Selected Lactobacilli Is Tolerated in Celiac Sprue Patients.” Applied and Environmental Microbiology (February 2004): 1088–96. This study suggests that a long sourdough fermentation may render wheat less toxic to people with celiac disease.
Jacobs, David R., Jr., and Lyn M. Steffen. “Nutrients, Foods, and Dietary Patterns as Exposures in Research: A Framework for Food Synergy.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 78 (suppl) (2003): 508S–13S.
———, et al. “Food Synergy: An Operational Concept for Understanding Nutrition.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 89 (suppl) (2009): 1543S–8S.
———, and Linda C. Tapsell. “Food, Not Nutrients, Is the Fundamental Unit in Nutrition.” Nutrition Reviews Vol. 65, No. 10 (2007): 439–50.
———, and Daniel D. Gallaher. “Whole Grain Intake and Cardiovascular Disease: A Review.” Current Atherosclerosis Reports 6 (2004): 415–23.
Lindeberg, Staffan. Food and Western Disease: Health and Nutrition from an Evolutionary Perspective. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
Price, Weston A. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration (7th edition). La Mesa, CA: Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, 2006.
Rizzello, Carlo G., et al. “Highly Efficient Gluten Degradation by Lactobacilli and Fungal Proteases During Food Processing: New Perspectives for Celiac Disease.” Applied and Environmental Microbiology (July 2007): 4499–507.
Spiller, Gene, and Monica Spiller. What’s with Fiber? Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, 2005.
Taubes, Gary. Good Calories, Bad Calories. New York: Knopf, 2007.
Van den Broeck, Hetty C., et al. “Presence of Celiac Disease Epitopes in Modern and Old Hexaploid Wheat Varieties: Wheat Breeding May Have Contributed to Increased Prevalence of Celiac Disease.” Theoretical and Applied Genetics 121 (2010): 1527–39.
On the Science of Sourdough Bread
Bamforth, Charles. Food, Fermentation and Micro-organisms. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2005.
Buehler, Emily. Bread Science: The Chemistry and Craft of Making Bread. Hillsborough, NC: Two Blue Books, 2006.
Ganzle, Michael G., et al. “Carbohydrate, Peptide and Lipid Metabolism of Lactic Acid Bacteria in Sourdough.” Food Microbiology 24 (2007): 128–38.
Kitahara, M., et al. “Biodiversity of Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis Strains Isolated from Five Sourdoughs.” Letters in Applied Microbiology 40 (2005): 353–57. An early study using DNA sequencing to identify the bacterial species in a sourdough culture.
Kulp, Karel, and Klaus Lorenz. Handbook of Dough Fermentations. New York: Marcel Dekker, 2003. Excellent anthology of scientific articles on the microbiology of sourdough bread.
MacGuire, James. “Pain au Levain: The Best Flavor, Acidity, and Texture and Where They Come From.” Art of Eating, No. 83 (Winter 2009).
Scheirlinck, I., et al. “Molecular Source Tracking of Predominant Lactic Acid Bacteria in Traditional Sourdoughs and Their Production Environments.” Journal of Applied Microbiology 106 (2009): 1081–92. This study found that L. sanfranciscensis, once thought to be native to the San Francisco Bay Area, is common in European sourdough cultures.
Sugihara, T. F., L. Kline, and M. W. Miller. “Microorganisms of the San Francisco Sour Dough Bread Process.” Applied Microbiology 21, 3: 456–58.
Thiele, C., et al. “Contribution of Sourdough Lactobacilli, Yeast and Cereal Enzymes to the Generation of Amino Acids in Dough Relevant for Bread Flavor.” Cereal Chemistry 79, 1: 45–51.
Weckx, Stefan, et al. “Community Dynamics of Bacteria in Sourdough Fermentations as Revealed by Their Metatranscriptome.” Applied and Environmental Microbiology (August 2010): 5402–8. This study found that the ecosystem in a sourdough culture tended to stabilize over time.
On Air in Food, Smell, and Retronasal Olfaction
Aftel, Mandy, and Daniel Patterson. Aroma: The Magic of Essential Oils in Food & Fragrance. New York: Artisan, 2004.
Fincks, Henry T. “The Gastronomic Value of Odours” in Contemporary Review. Vol. L (July–December 1886). Early study of the relationship of taste and smell and their combined effect in producing flavor. May be the first published description of retronasal olfaction, which he calls “our second way of smelling.”
Gilbert, Avery. What the Nose Knows: The Science of Scent in Everyday Life. New York: Crown, 2008.
Rozin, Paul. “Taste-Smell Confusions and the Duality of the Olfactory Sense.” Perception and Psychophysics 31, 4 (1982): 397–401. One of the first analyses of retronasal olfaction and its role in detecting and cataloguing flavor.
Shepherd, Gordon M. Neurogastronomy: How the Brain Creates Flavor and Why It Matters. New York: Columbia University, 2012. The latest science of retronasal olfaction.
PART IV: EARTH
On Fermentation and Fermented Foods in General
Albala, Ken. “Bacterial Fermentation and the Missing Terroir Factor in Historic Cookery.” In Cured, Fermented and Smoked Foods: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2010. Devon, England: Prospect Books, 2011.
Bilger, Burkhard. “Nature’s Spoils.” New Yorker, November 22, 2010. An excellent profile of Sandor Katz and the underground food movement.
Jacobsen, Rowan. American Terroir: Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields. New York: Bloomsbury, 2010. Especially the chapters on cheese and wine.
Katz, Sandor Ellix. The Art of Fermentation. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2012. With a foreword by Michael Pollan. Sandor Katz’s magnum opus and indispensable to anyone interested in fermented foods.
———. “Fermentation as a Coevolutionary Force.” In Cured, Fermented and Smoked Foods: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2010. Devon, England: Prospect Books, 2011.
———. Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition and Craft of Live-Culture Food. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2003. An exhilarating if somewhat rough-edged manifesto for fermentos.
Lewin, Alex. Real Food Fermentation: Preserving Whole Fresh Food with Live Cultures in Your Home Kitchen. Minneapolis: Quarry Books, 2012.
Margulis, Lynn, and Dorion Sagan. Dazzle Gradually: Reflections on the Nature of Nature. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2007.
———. Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Evolution from Our Microbial Ancestors. New York: Summit Books, 1986.
Mintz, Sidney W. “The Absent Third: The Place of Fermentation in a Thinkable World Food System.” In Cured, F
ermented and Smoked Foods: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2010. Devon, England: Prospect Books, 2011.
Steinkraus, K.H. “Fermentation in World Food Processing.” In Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, Vol. 1 (2002). Published by the Institute of Food Technologists. A comprehensive survey of fermented foods and beverages from around the world.
Trubek, Amy B. The Taste of Place: A Cultural Journey into Terroir. Berkeley: University of California, 2008.
On Vegetable Ferments
Andoh, Elizabeth. Kansha: Celebrating Japan’s Vegan and Vegetarian Traditions. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 2010. See especially the chapter on tsukémono, Japan’s extraordinary pickling tradition.
Fallon, Sally, with Mary Enig. Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats. Washington, DC: New Trends Publishing, 2001.
Haekyung, Chung. Korean Cuisine: A Cultural Journey. Seoul: Korea Foundation, 2009.
Lee, Chun Ja. The Book of Kimchi. Seoul: J=Korea Information Service, 1999.
Madison, Deborah. Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning: The Gardeners and Farmers of Terre Vivante. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2007.
Pederson, Carl. S., and Margaret N. Albury. The Sauerkraut Fermentation. Geneva, NY: New York Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 824, December 1969.
Plengvidhya, V., F. Breidt, Z. Lu, and H. P. Fleming. “DNA Fingerprinting of Lactic Acid Bacteria in Sauerkraut Fermentations.” Applied and Environmental Microbiology 73, 23 (2007): 7697–702.
Yoon, Sook-ja. Good Morning, Kimchi!: Forty Different Kinds of Traditional and Fusion Kimchi Recipes. Elizabeth, NJ: Hollym, 2005.
On the Human Microbiome
Start with the National Institutes of Health’s Web site for the human microbiome project: http://www.hmpdacc.org/. It has links to many academic articles on the subject. The articles below I found particularly helpful:
Ainsworth, Claire. “I Am Legion: Myriad Microbes Living in Your Gut Make You Who You Are.” New Scientist, May 14, 2011.
Bengmark, D. “Ecological Control of the Gastrointestinal Tract: The Role of Probiotic Flora.” Gut 42 (1998): 2–7.
Benson, Alicia, et al. “Gut Commensal Bacteria Direct a Protective Immune Response Against Toxoplasma gondii.” Cell Host & Microbe 6, 2 (2009): 187–96.
Blaser, Martin J. “Who Are We? Indigenous Microbes and the Ecology of Human Disease.” European Molecular Biology Organization, Vol. 7, No. 10, 2006.
Bravo, Javier A., et al. “Ingestion of Lactobacillus Strain Regulates Emotional Behavior and Central GABA Receptor Expression in a Mouse Via the Vagus Nerve.” www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1102999108.
Desiere, Frank, et al. “Bioinformatics and Data Knowledge: The New Frontiers for Nutrition and Food.” Trends in Food Science & Technology 12 (2002): 215–29.
Douwes, J., et al. “Farm Exposure in Utero May Protect Against Asthma.” European Respiratory Journal 32 (2008): 603–11.
Ege, M.J., et al. Parsifal study team. “Prenatal Farm Exposure Is Related to the Expression of Receptors of the Innate Immunity and to Atopic Sensitization in School-Age Children.” Journal of Allergy Clinical Immunology 117 (2006): 817–23.
Flöistrup, H., et al. “Allergic Disease and Sensitization in Steiner School Children.” Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 117 (2006): 59–66.
Gershon, Michael D. The Second Brain: Your Gut Has a Mind of Its Own. New York: Quill, 1998.
Greer, Julie B., and Stephen John O’Keefe. “Microbial Induction of Immunity, Inflammation, and Cancer.” Frontiers in Physiology, Vol. 1, article 168 (January 2011).
Hehemann, Jan-Hendrik, et al. “Transfer of Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes from Marine Bacteria to Japanese Gut Microbiota.” Nature. Vol. 464 (April 8, 2010). This is the study that found that genes from a marine bacterium had been taken up by gut bacteria among the Japanese, allowing them to digest carbohydrates in seaweed.
Jung, Ji Young, et al. “Metagenomic Analysis of Kimchi, a Traditional Korean Fermented Food.” Applied and Environmental Microbiology (April 2011): 2264–74.
Kaplan, Jess L., et al. “The Role of Microbes in Developmental Immunologic Programming.” Pediatric Research, Vol. 69, No. 6 (2011).
Karpa, Kelly Dowhower. Bacteria for Breakfast: Probiotics for Good Health. Victoria, BC: Trafford Publishing, 2003.
Ley, Ruth E. “Worlds Within Worlds: Evolution of the Vertebrate Gut Microbiota.” Nature Reviews, Vol. 6 (October 2008).
O’Keefe, Stephen J.D. “Nutrition and Colonic Health: The Critical Role of the Microbiota.” Current Opinion in Gastroenterology 24 (2008): 51–58.
Parvez, S., et al. “Probiotics and Their Fermented Food Products Are Beneficial for Health.” Journal of Applied Microbiology 100 (2006): 1171–85.
Perkin, Michael R., et al. “Which Aspects of the Farming Lifestyle Explain the Inverse Association with Childhood Allergy?” Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Vol. 117, No. 6.
Robinson, Courtney, et al. “From Structure to Function: The Ecology of Host-Associated Microbial Communities.” Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews (September 2010): 453–76. A landmark article seeking to apply the lens of ecology to the microbial communities inhabiting the human body.
Song, Yeong-Ok. “The Functional Properties of Kimchi for the Health Benefits.” Food Industry and Nutrition 9, 3 (2004): 27–28.
Turnbaugh, P.J., et al. “An Obesity-Associated Gut Microbiome with Increased Capacity for Energy Harvest.” Nature 444 (2006): 1027–31.
———, et al. “The Human Microbiome Project.” Nature 449 (2007): 804–10.
———, et al. “A Core Gut Microbiome in Obese and Lean Twins.” Nature 457 (2009): 480–84.
Walter, Jens. “Ecological Role of Lactobacilli in the Gastrointestinal Tract: Implications for Fundamental and Biomedical Research.” Applied and Environmental Microbiology (August 2008): 4985–96.
Zivkovic, Angela M., J. Bruce German, et al. “Human Milk Glycobiome and Its Impact on the Infant Gastrointestinal Microbiota.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 107, No. suppl 1 (March 15, 2011): 4653–58.
On Cheese and Cheese Making
Abdelgadir, Warda S., et al. “The Traditional Fermented Milk Products of the Sudan.” International Journal of Food Microbiology 44 (1998), 1–13.
Behr, Edward. “Pushing to a Delicate Extreme: The Cheeses of Soyoung Scanlan.” Art of Eating, No. 86 (2010).
Bilger, Burkhard. “Raw Faith.” New Yorker, August 19, 2002. An excellent profile of Sister Noëlla and the controversies surrounding raw-milk cheeses.
Boisard, Pierre. Camembert: A National Myth. Berkeley: University of California, 2003.
Bosco, Antoinette. Mother Benedict: Foundress of the Abbey of Regina Laudus. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2007.
Culture: The Word on Cheese. Terrific quarterly magazine covering the art and science of cheese making and occasionally other fermented foods as well.
Johnson, Nathanael. “The Revolution Will Not Be Pasteurized: Inside the Raw Milk Underground.” Harper’s Magazine, April 2008.
Kindstedt, Paul S. American Farmstead Cheese: The Complete Guide to Making and Selling Artisan Cheeses. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2005.
———. Cheese and Culture: A History of Cheese and Its Place in Western Civilization. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2012.
Latour, Bruno. The Pasteurization of France. Alan Sheridan and John Law, trs. Cambridge: Harvard University, 1988.
LeMay, Eric. Immortal Milk: Adventures in Cheese.
New York: Free Press, 2010.
Mendelson, Ann. Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages. New York: Knopf, 2008.
Montanari, Massimo. Cheese, Pears & History. New York: Columbia University, 2010.
Paxson, Heather. “Post-Pasteurian Cultures: The Microbiopolitics of Raw-Milk Cheese in the United States.” Cultural Anthropology, Vol. 23, Issue 1, 15–47. Brilliant analysis of “post-Pasteurian” thinking and my first encounter with that term.
On the Microbiology of Cheese
Marcellino, R.M. Noëlla. Biodiversity of Geotrichum Candidum Strains Isolated from Traditional French Cheese. A doctoral dissertation, submitted to the University of Connecticut, 2003.
———, and David R. Benson. “Scanning Electron and Light Microscopic Study of Microbial Success on Bethlehem St. Nectaire Cheese.” Applied and Environmental Microbiology (November 1992): 3448–54.
———. “Characteristics of Bethlehem Cheese, an American Fungal-Ripened Cheese,” 114–20. In T. M. Cogan, P. F. Fox, and R. P. Ross, eds., 5th Cheese Symposium. Teagasc, Dublin, Cork, Ireland, 1997.
———. “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Tales of Fungal Ripened Cheese.” (In Press: Catherine W. Donnelly, ed. Cheese and Microbes. Herndon, VA: ASW Press, 2013.)
Marcellino, N., et al. “Diversity of Geotrichum candidum Strains Isolated from Traditional Cheesemaking Fabrications in France.” Applied and Environmental Microbiology (October 2001): 4752—59.
Sieuwerts, Sander, et al. “Unraveling Microbial Interactions in Food Fermentations: from Classical to Genomic Approaches.” Applied and Environmental Microbiology (August 2008) 4997–5007.
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