"If you have not got enough grain, I myself shall have grain brought in to you. My lord has become distressed about the battles in Elam. But the Elamites' grain rations have quickly been exhausted, so do not slacken your forces! Do not fall head first into their slavery, nor follow at their heels!"

"Our production system takes abundant grain, which hungry people can't afford, and shrinks it into meat, which better-off people will pay for. But … our production system not only reduces abundance but actually mines the very resources on which our future rests."

"Where there is no grain, this is a sign of vengeance turned towards a city."

"Whether it is roasted or not, you should sprinkle the grain."

"To dry pale malt well three things are necessary: 1. It should be loaded... as sound green-malt upon a floor at the thickness rarely, if ever, exceeding seven to eight inches. 2. It must remain unturned at a low temperature until nearly all moisture is removed. 3. Heat must then be applied steadily and freely, and be maintained for a considerable time at a nearly uniform height ranging from 160° to as high as 230° in some cases. With these three rules... vast quantities of malt now daily spoiled in the making, could be manufactured into a thoroughly sound and useful article. A really well designed and good kiln can always ensure the following conditions. Malt completely dried (i.e., deprived of 97 per cent of the total moisture present in green malt). Uniformity of dryness, colour, flavour, and aroma. Economy of working in cost of fuel consumed and labour employed."

"Oh many a peer of England brews Livelier liquor than the Muse, And malt does more than Milton can To justify God's ways to man. Ale, man, ale's the stuff to drink For fellows whom it hurts to think."

"Let's not jump to , but something in the middle."

"The brewer, who does not untie his belt in warm weather, whose hands do not dry the clay."

"Many of the historical brews were fun to drink. The meads brought on laughter. The gruit ales made people talkative. Dr. Butler's ale induced a peculiar golden heaviness. Some were bottled havoc. Whatever their effect, I was fascinated by the process of brewing a historical text into being. Old brewing recipes are records of how yeasts have etched themselves into human lives and minds over the last few hundred years."

"Much good beer has doubtless been made from very inferior malt, also vast quantities of so-called good beer are made by men who never even saw a proper mash; but neither of these facts can upset or affect the assertion that it is necessary to pay strict and careful attention to the drying of malt to produce a wort of uniform quality and absolute soundness. By careful working, inferior barley can be made into fairly sound and useful malt. By the employment of considerable skill... a brewer can make very good beer from indifferent malt, but his efforts, if carried back to the , are much more certain and reliable in their effects. No brewer needs to be told how much easier is his work, and more certain in its results, if he has malt well made and soundly dried."

"The maltster, never resting in winter."

"[C]ultured yeasts have only been in the winemaking picture within the last century. For thousands of years previously, all wine was fermented on wild (indigenous) yeast. Some old world wineries in France still ferment high-end wines on the local yeast."

"Malting to a very great extent determines the character of the to be fermented, and the fermentation acts upon that wort badly or well, not only in direct relation to the quality and nature of the yeast added, and the conditions of temperature and other surrounding influences of the wort, but in a greater and more important manner according to the nature of that wort itself. The wort is not only the element surrounding the yeast-plant, but it is the food-supply also, and upon the character and quality of the food supplied, the development and well-being of the yeast-crop mainly depend. My own experience has taught me that kiln-drying and exercise almost equally great influences upon the character of the wort, and as the one stage necessarily precedes the other, it must take the first place especially as the influences of the kiln are more permanent than those of the mash-tun."

"The trouble with being descended from a brewer, no matter how long ago he brewered, or whatever you call it, you're supposed to know all about something you don't give a hoot about."

"The is simply mixed with cooked, dehulled soybeans; the continues its growth without the... spores. ...however, [it] generally has a lightly weaker mycelium and the incubation time is a little longer than... sporulated methods. And... there are always some unwanted bacteria in the original tempeh. If you are careless and/or the humidity is high, their numbers will increase with each generation until eventually they prevail, preventing the formation of good tempeh. However, by being clean and careful, we have had no trouble in keeping this starter going for more than 12 generations..."

", or “fermented soybean paste,”... is an all-purpose high-protein seasoning, which has no counterpart among Western foods or seasonings. Made from soybeans, rice or barley, and salt... [i]t comes in a wide range of warm, earthy colors... Each miso has its own distinctive flavor and aroma... Miso’s range of flavors and colors, textures and aromas, is at least as varied as that of the world’s fine wines or cheeses."

"[T]he French Academy of Sciences in 1779 had posted a prize of one kilogram of gold for a solution of the mystery of fermentation. Unfortunately, the offer had to be withdrawn in 1793... but Cagniard-Latour's inquisitive spirit was undaunted by the cancellation... He described the features of yeast cells, classified them as plants, observed the process of budding and noted the differences in shape between wine- and beer-yeasts. He also found the multiplication of the cells required nitrogenous material in addition to fermentable carbohydrate. ...Unfortunately, however, he reverted to his research interest in physics."

"Koji is a culture prepared by growing... '... mold on cooked grains and/or soybeans in a warm, humid place. Koji serves as a source of enzymes that break down (or hydrolyze / digest / split) natural plant constituents into simpler compounds when making , , , , and other fermented foods. Its fragrant white... mycelium... has a delightful aroma resembling that of mushrooms. ...Koji is written with the exact same character in China and Japan. ...In China this character is romanized as qu... Koji was invented in China at least three centuries before the Christian era."

"If milk is produced under clean conditions, it is not likely to have a disagreeable odor or taste at any time, even when it is sour; rather the taste is agreeable like that of good butter milk. The curd is perfectly homogeneous, showing no holes or rents, due to the development of gas, and there is but little tendency for the whey to be expressed from the curd. This type of fermentation is largely produced by the group of bacteria to which has been given the name, Bacillus lactis acidi. The main by-product of this group of bacteria is ; small amounts of and alcohol, with traces of other compounds, are also formed. The agreeable odor and to some extent the flavor of milk fermented by these bacteria is due to other by-products than lactic acid, for this has no odor and only a sour taste. The acid fermentation of milk is often called the . In reality only the fermentation produced by the desirable group in which lactic acid is the most evident by-product should be thus called."

"Undesirable acid-forming bacteria... capable of forming substances that impart to milk an offensive odor and a disagreeable taste not infrequently appear instead of the desirable group. Instead of producing from the sugar of milk large quantities of lactic acid, these types generate other acids, such as acetic and formic, which impart a sharp taste to the milk. Besides the acids the bacteria of this group form gases from the sugar of the milk. Some produce small amounts of gas; others so much that the curd will be spongy and will float on the surface of the whey. The fermentation caused by them is often called a "gassy fermentation" and is dreaded by butter and cheese makers since the gas is indicative of bad flavors... Gas may also be produced in other types of fermentations... This class of bacteria enters the milk with the dust, dirt, and manure, in which materials they are especially abundant. No spores are formed; hence they are easily killed by heating the milk. They grow both in the presence and in the absence of free oxygen. High temperatures favor their growth, most rapid development taking place at 100° to 103° F. ...The normal souring of milk is due to a mixture of these two groups [Bacillus lactis acidi and the undesirable acid-forms] of bacteria. The relative proportions existing between the two in any sample of milk is dependent on a number of factors, most important of which is the degree of cleanliness..."

"Koji usually serves as the basis of secondary fermentation, in which its s help to (break down or digest or split) basic nutrients. ... ...digests carbohydrates ... breaks down proteins, and ... ...digests lipids (fats). Rice... barley... and soybean koji are used to make three different types of . Koji for Japanese is made from a mixture of roasted wheat and defatted soybean meal; this koji is dark-green in color. Whole soybean koji is used to make traditional Chinese soy sauce and fermented black soy beans (also known as... ...etc.). Rice koji is used to make Japanese ... and ... Koji is to sake as is to beer. Each saccharifies the starch... so that... sugars can be fermented to alcohol by yeasts."

"Basically, the preparation method of soy sauce koji involves washing and soaking the rice grains overnight, steaming the well-drained soaked rice for about 60 minutes, rapidly cooling and breaking the lumps of rice, mixing uniformly the ash and starter, distributing in trays and incubating in a special room for about 5 days with in-between stirring of the mixture on the second day and the third day. The molded rice is thoroughly dried, packaged, and stored in cold room with low humidity. Strict observation of aseptic conditions is required at every step of the preparation."

"If a number of flasks be charged with a clear nutrient solution, of a kind favourable to the growth of yeast and containing a fermentable sugar, and each of them be inoculated with a trace of a pure culture of different yeasts, such as are used in brewing, distillery work, vinification, &c., the cultures being then kept at room temperature for a couple of days, it will be found that cell reproduction and fermentation—manifested by the appearance of turbidity and gas bubbles—will occur in all. It will thereafter soon be possible to separate the flasks into two groups, according to the appearance presented. In the one group the yeast crop developed from the sowing will remain almost entirely within the liquid throughout the entire period of fermentation, and mostly at the bottom even from the start. Yeasts of this kind are termed bottom yeasts, and excite bottom-fermentation, the yeast crop being sedimental. In the other group the fermentation is very brisk and attended with the formation of large quantities of froth (head); and in the earlier stages a larger or smaller number of the new cells are raised to the surface by the ascending bubbles of gas, and remain there—provided the vessel be high enough to prevent frothing over—until fermentation is terminated and the froth breaks up, whereupon they sink down to the bottom of the liquid and increase the sedimental deposit. This kind of fermentation is termed top-fermentation, and the yeasts producing it are called top-fermentation yeasts. Typical examples of bottom-fermentation yeasts are afforded by the Munich lager-beer yeasts."

"The present status of surgery depends, primarily, upon the efforts of chemists, especially those interested in wine and beer production, to determine why milk turns sour, grape juice becomes wine, wine vinegar, and vinegar "a foul, insipid fluid," without the addition of any chemical reagent. The difficulty in explaining this change was due to the fact that no chemical formula could be evolved which fully represented the equation. It was easy to write a formula that expressed in definite terms the change that had resulted in a given case, but it was impossible to explain what had set the process in motion. Why was it that milk would change from sweet to sour, showing that the milk sugar it contained had become lactic acid, while a solution of pure milk sugar in pure water absolutely refused to undergo the same process? It became evident that there was something else inherent to the fermenting process that set it in motion. ... The problem was gradually clearing up as far back as Von Helmont... who first showed that the gas eliminated during fermentation was different from the air and identical with that formed by the combustion of charcoal and the calcination of limestone. ... Stahl... was the first to discover that vinous fermentation and putrefaction belong to the same class of phenomena... Leuwenhoek... in 1680 found, with the imperfect microscopes in use at that time, that yeast consisted of minute globular or ovoid particles... It took until 1836 for Schwann and Caignard-Latour, acting independently of one another, to prove that Leuwenhoek's globules were membranous bags, exhibiting the characteristics of vegetable cells and increasing and multiplying rapidly in the same way when brought under proper conditions. It had already been recognized that the yeast increased in vinous fermentation, and therefore it was natural that they should conclude that yeast was a plant, and that as it grew it in some unexplained way set up the chemical change. ... Schroeder and Von Dusch (1854) published the fact that a cotton plug prevented the something in the air that set fermentation and putrefaction in motion from coming in contact with the solutions or solids that otherwise would become proper media for the setting up of the processes. In 1860, and the next few succeeding years, Pasteur settled the whole question by his masterly review of the field, and his own remarkable series of experiments. Following this came Lister's appreciation of the results of these experiments in their application to surgery..."

"Searching investigations into the chemical activity of the different species of acetic acid bacteria would be not only opportune in the interests of science, but also highly important to the practice of the vinegar industry. In this business the employment of selected pure culture ferments is not yet regarded as a fundamental rule, everything being still left to the mercy of chance. ...there are two different methods of making vinegar. In one of them wine forms the raw material, this method being known as the Orleans process... There (as elsewhere) the work is still performed in the same manner as it was centuries ago as follows:—A number of oaken casks, each of a capacity of some 55 gallons, are arranged in rows in a chamber maintained at a constant temperature of 18° to 22° C [64° to 71° F]. In the upper part of the front end (head) of each cask a circular aperture (a few cm in width) is provided, through which the cask can be filled or emptied, and which is generally kept closed, whilst near it is a very small hole (vent) always left open for the admission of air. In normal work each cask is about half full. Before setting a new cask in work, it is scalded out several times with steam or hot water, in order to extract the sap from the wood, and is then "soured" by impregnating it with good, boiling-hot vinegar. About 1 hl. (22 gallons) of good, clear vinegar and 2 l. (0.44 gallons) of wine are then placed in the cask, another 3 l. of wine being added at the end of eight days, 4 to 5 l. more after the lapse of another week, and so on until the cask contains 180-200 l. (40 to 44 gallons). Then, for the first time, vinegar is drawn from the cask, and in such quantity that about 22 gallons are left behind in the vessel. From that time the cask "mother" is in continuous use, 10 litres (2.2 gallons) of vinegar being withdrawn every week and replaced by an equal quantity of wine. The "mother" casks may remain in work during six or eight years without interruption, but at the end of this period they will contain such a considerable accumulation of deposited yeast, tarter and , as to necessitate their being emptied and cleansed. A skin, known as vinegar flowers or mother of vinegar, and composed of acetic acid bacteria, develops on the surface of the liquid, and the manner and luxuriance of its growth enables the operator to judge the progress of the fermentation. However, at the outset the growth proceeds very slowly, since the wine employed mostly contains but very few of these bacteria. Consequently an opportunity is afforded for the development of rapid-growing injurious organisms, chiefly certain budding fungi, which consume the acetic acid. The aerobic "vinegar eels" also make their appearance."

"is a rich, nutrient-dense living water that's fermented from sprouted grains or seeds. ...rejuvelac not only costs pennies on the dollar but ranks in superiority in terms of probiotic quality and quantity. ...It takes about five days to make and is suprisingly easy ...The seeds or grains must be raw or they will not sprout. ...You can use rejuvelac in place of any recipe calling for water. ...Rejuvelac is also a [DIY] starter used in fermented creams, yogurts and cheeses [to include those made from nuts and seeds]. Stir in some juice, honey, and ice cubes for a delicious beverage. ...soak ...seeds or grains ...covered in water for eight hours or overnight. Buckwheat or smaller seeds, can take as little as two hours. ...Drain off the water. Give the grains a good rinse... twice a day (or more)... cover the sprouts with a breathable cloth. ...out of direct sunlight. Tilt the jar... and let the water drain out. ...After the berries have sprouted, give them a final rinse and fill... with water... approximately 4 to 6 times more water than sprouts. ...Let it sit thirty-six to forty eight hours [covered with a breathable cloth]. Less time... if the weather is warm... more if... cool. ...A slightly sour and fizzy taste should be the result. (If it tastes like it's gone bad, discard... you can water the plants with it—and begin again.)"

"During ... a characteristic fermentative yeast flora develops in the liquid... When the sugar is used up and the pH has dropped because of lactic acid production by the lactic acid bacteria, a secondary, oxidative yeast flora develops on the surface of the liquid in the form of a thick, folded layer of yeast."

"Sufu (Chinese soy cheese) and (chaotofu) are block-type fermented soy foods. In the manufacture... sufu utilizes mainly mold(s), whereas stinky tofu utilizes mainly bacteria. Molds multiply under aerobic condition and produce , , and other s"

"is a fermented beverage that originated from 's life work. ...Wigmore highly promoted rejuvelac as a form of "living water." ...Although she primarily fermented wheat... any grain can be used. ...Ann Wigmore's recipe... used unsprouted grain... Other rejuvelac recipes use sprouted grains. ...by sprouting the grains the flavor is far superior and tastes lightly lemony. The key... is to sprout the grains first and then blend them for the fermenting process. ...Fill the jar with clean filtered water ...scrape any foam or debris off the top of the liquid."

"Schwann (1837) the codiscoverer of the yeast cell, showed by experiment that fermentation and putrefaction were of microbial origin. He also disproved spontaneous generation: with sterile flasks and media he demonstrated that it was microorganisms in the air that produced putrefaction or fermentation of substances. Alcohol was produced when yeast was added to a sugar solution. When sterile media were exposed to the air, they decomposed, but if air was sterilized by heat, no decomposition occurred. Schwann reasoned that the air contained living germs that produced the putrefaction because arsenic and mercuric chloride, which were known to kill living things, also prevented putrefaction. These were the same kind of experiments Pasteur was to perform a quarter-century later. Schwann was the originator but Pasteur got the recognition. This is not to belittle Pasteur, whose many achievements earned him his place in history."

"Dill pickles and pearl onions are salted with just enough salt to plasmolyze the harmful organisms, and alcohol is generated first, then follows acetic and lactic fermentations to produce vinegar having a characteristic flavor. All vinegar having a certain per cent of solids is liable to deterioration through the agency of harmful bacteria hence storage in cool places is recommended for such as malt and cider vinegars."

"Raw cultured vegetables have been around for thousands of years... Rich in lactobacilli and enzymes, alkaline-forming, and loaded with vitamins, they are an ideal food that can and should be consumed with every meal. Since cultured foods are an excellent source of vitamin C, Dutch seamen used to carry them to prevent . For centuries, the Chinese have cultured cabbage each fall to ensure a source of greens through the winter... Cultured vegetables are a favorite food of the long-lived Hunzas. ...it's the active cultures of friendly bacteria (lactobacilli) inside [yogurt] that are responsible for good health. Similarly, the enzymes and the high lactic acid in raw cultured vegetables promote wellness and longevity."

"Gay-Lussac found that food treated by Appert's method was quite stable, but as soon as it was exposed to air, fermentation and/or putrefaction set in. Further experiments enabled Gay-Lussac to prove that air was the causative agent, and that if liquid foods were actually boiled, and then exposed to air, then the onset of the two processes was delayed. He also found that if brewer's yeast was heated, it was incapable of initiating fermentations."

"[K]oji [is] the Japanese manifestation of qu, also traditionally a mixed culture but today typically known as a single a strain of fungus, '. Before I started growing koji, I would never have believed it possible to fall in love with a mold. ...Koji itself is not generally eaten as a food (although it is delicious). Koji is the first step toward many elaborately processed foods and beverages. ...try it at least once using a starter culture so you can experience the unique aroma of fresh growing koji, because recognizing that unique smell is the most straightforward way you have to gauge whether you have the right mold growing if you try starting koji spontaneously using corn husks."

"Civilized men know the art of preparing nutritious foods from milk. For instance, in our temples and monasteries we make hundreds of first-class preparations from milk. Whenever visitors come, they are astonished that from milk such nice foods can be prepared. The blood of the cow is very nutritious, but civilized men utilize it in the form of milk. Milk is nothing but cow's blood transformed. You can make milk into so many things – yogurt, curd, ghee (clarified butter), and so on – and by combining these milk products with grains, fruits, and vegetables, you can make hundreds of preparations. This is civilized life – not directly killing an animal and eating its flesh."

"Cow milk has no valid claim as the perfect food. As nutrition, it produces allergies in infants, diarrhea and cramps in the older child and adult, and may be a factor in the development of heart attacks and strokes. Perhaps when the public is educated as to the hazards of milk only calves will be left to drink the real thing. Only calves should drink the real thing."

"In petticoat of green, Her hair about her eyne, Phyllis beneath an oak Sat milking her fair flock: ’Mongst that sweet-strainèd moisture, rare delight, Her hand seemed milk, in milk it was so white."

"The human body has no more need for cows' milk than it does for dogs' milk, horses' milk, or giraffes' milk."

"You cows that I see before me, how many thousands of gallons of milk have you given during this last year? And what has happened to that milk which should have been breeding up sturdy calves? Every drop of it has gone down the throats of our enemies."

"To be a gourmet you must start early, as you must begin riding early to be a good horseman. You must live in France; your father must have been a gourmet. Nothing in life must interest you but your stomach."

"Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there."

"The inexperienced in wisdom and virtue, ever occupied with feasting and such, are carried downward, and there, as is fitting, they wander their whole life long, neither ever looking upward to the truth above them nor rising toward it, nor tasting pure and lasting pleasures. Like cattle, always looking downward with their heads bent toward the ground and the banquet tables, they feed, fatten, and fornicate. In order to increase their possessions they kick and butt with horns and hoofs of steel and kill each other, insatiable as they are."

"When the bigos was gone, guests scraped their plates, proving once again, as Nela said, there is "nothing better than a big pot of savory bigos.""

"There used to be three phases of arriving at a political decision in the Polish diet. The first phase was that of presenting views. Everyone could present any opinion they wanted. Then came the grinding phase. ... Grinding as in a great mortar, where you grind until you produce a uniform mass. Opinions were ground through a long-term discussion. But if this didn't help and if at least one person remained unconvinced or opposed, then he could take the floor of the Polish parliament, shout liberum veto and scurry away – thus dissolving the diet. So the Polish nobility came up with a third phase: it was the phase of making bigos. ... Bigos is a peculiar dish: shredded cabbage and chopped meat stewed for a long time. So the third phase – that of making bigos – meant that the rash nobles would grab their sabres and hack him to pieces, the one who upset the government, who upset the law, before he could get away."

"Holy smokes, now I've cooked some bigos!"

"Bigos is one of those Polish dishes that has been romanticized in poetry, discussed in its most minute details in all sorts of literary contexts, and never made in small quantities. ... In the manor house where my grandfather was born, the bigos was kept warm in a compartment in the great tile stove that heated the parlor where guests were received. It was handed out as a welcoming snack served on poppy seed toast, along with a glass of iced vodka or champagne. While Polish villagers often make a plain version of bigos in huge cauldrons over an open fire for wedding feasts, real bigos is best when it is baked very slowly at a low temperature in a ceramic pot. The evaporation alone should be enough to thicken it. Furthermore, it should not be served until at least one day old, preferably three: it needs time for the flavors to fuse into a highly complex and concentrated taste."

"In the meantime, Gaudentius, who didn't fail to make provisions for the journey with leftovers from the feast of Yasnohorod, reheated and consumed bigos, generously seasoned with sausages and fatback, which he had retrieved from a box, washing it down, in strictly calculated intervals, with ample doses of vodka, which he kept by his right-hand side in a large rectangular decanter. ... Bigos, as is known, induces great thirst, which had to be quenched with some concoction; nearby, at Finke's, this and other "remedies" were ready for savoring. This venture, undertaken with certain tact, yet amateurishly, took quite some time; it had been over an hour since the sun left the earthly horizon, when Mr. Pius, with the last drops from the last bottle, exorcised the effects of the greasy bigos."

"— How are you, old rogue? Why twist your nose as if you had found some unvirtuous odor? — In the whole camp of Sapieha it smells of bigos! — Why bigos? Tell me! — Beacuse the Swedes have cut up a great many cabbage heads!"

"Turkey in sauce, steak and bigos The lords of yore did munch; But nowadays, it's worms and snails On which, like storks, they lunch."

"Before they got to Żółtańce, Dub stopped the car twice and after the last stop he said doggedly to Biegler: 'For lunch I had bigos cooked the Polish way. From the battalion I shall make a complaint by telegram to the brigade. The sauerkraut was bad and the pork was not fit for eating. The insolence of these cooks exceeds all bounds. Whoever doesn't yet know me, will soon get to know me.'"