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Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Liz Waid.

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And I’m Ryan Geertsma. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

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A woman cuts up a leafy, round, green vegetable - a cabbage. She mixes the cabbage leaves with spices to give it a good taste. She also adds water and salt. She lets the cabbage mixture sit for a few days. Then the woman tastes it and her mouth waters. It is spicy and sour, like a yellow lemon fruit. The woman has made Kimchi. This is a very famous fermented food from Korea. It has a special taste because of the way it is prepared. People make similar food from fermented cabbage in many parts of the world. In Latin American it is called cortido. In Europe it is called sauerkraut. And there are many other foods that can be prepared in a similar way. Today’s Spotlight is on fermented food around the world.

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Fermentation is a process that changes food through bacteria. Bacteria are so small that people cannot see them. They change the food so that it ages, but does not decay. Instead, the taste of the food becomes stronger and often more sour.

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People began to ferment food thousands of years ago. There are different fermented foods in different parts of the world. For example, in China the earliest fermented foods were the grains rice and millet. But in the Middle East, people first fermented barley and wheat. Today, people still eat fermented foods. In fact, they may even eat fermented foods without knowing it. Bread, milk products, beer, wine, meat, beans, and grains can all be fermented.

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Milk is one of the most commonly fermented foods around the world. In southern Africa, people make a drink called amasi from milk. People leave milk out at room temperature. They add a little bit of old amasi to the milk. The old amasi is called a “starter.” It begins the process of fermentation. It contains bacteria that will make the milk ferment. After a few days the milk turns a bit sour and becomes thicker. Many other cultures have a food like Amasi. In English it is called yogurt.

Voice 1

There are also many fermented drinks. Some of these are produced to make alcohol. But there are many that have no alcohol in them. One of these is a common drink in Russia and its surrounding countries. It is called kvass. This fresh-tasting drink is made from dry bread. People put the bread into large bottles. Then they mix in water, sugar and dried fruit. They also add a little bit of fermented liquid as a starter. After the kvass sits for a few days, people filter it to take out all the pieces. The result is a popular drink that is a bit carbonated, like a soft drink.

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Many people say that fermented foods are very healthy. These foods are good for the body in four main ways. First, bacteria breaks down fermented food before people eat it. This makes healthy substances from the food get into a person’s body faster and more easily.

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Fermented foods are healthy in a second way. During fermentation many foods increase their mineral and vitamin content. Fermentation can be a way to eat these healthy substances that other foods may not provide.

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Fermentation also makes it possible for humans to eat some foods that would otherwise be poisonous. Without fermentation, these foods can make people very sick or even die. For example, many people eat bitter cassava, a light-coloured root that grows under the ground. In its original form, bitter cassava has some poison in it. But after fermentation, people can eat it without getting sick.

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Finally, fermentation is good for people because of the bacteria that it creates. Bacteria are small living organisms. There are millions of them in our bodies and in our food. Sandor Katz is an expert in fermentation. He explains to the news organization NPR why living bacteria are important for health:

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"We could not survive without bacteria. They help our bodies to process and use the healthy substances in our food. And they play a huge part in preventing us from getting sick and in many other processes in our bodies. Our bacteria perform all kinds of necessary jobs for us.”

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Another advantage of fermentation is that it is an easy way to keep food fresh longer. This is especially important in places where people do not have refrigeration. Fermenting food helps people store it over longer periods of time. For example, meat will go bad if it is not kept cold. But there are many traditional processes for fermenting or treating meat without refrigeration.

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Some people who have refrigeration still choose to ferment food. Fermentation is a good way to save energy, money and fuel or electricity. For example, many people prepare soybeans using fermentation. Usually, it takes six hours to boil soybeans. But using a fermentation process, the soybeans only need to be cooked for one hour.

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Fermentation is also an important part of human history. Traditional foods such as kimchi, cortido, kvass and amasi are very important in many cultures. In English, the word ‘culture’ can mean different things. Katz explains in his book “The Art of Fermentation”:

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“We call the starters that we add to milk to make yogurt or to start fermentation, cultures. At the same time, culture includes all that humans seek to pass from generation to generation. This includes language, music, art, literature, scientific knowledge, and belief systems as well as ways of farming and cooking.”

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Traditional ways of fermenting are not only good for health and cheaper to prepare. They are often an important part of cultural and family traditions. People are proud of their traditional foods. A family may have a special way to prepare kimchi or kvass that they enjoy together. The food becomes a way for people of all ages to connect with each other.

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Fermented foods have a long tradition. They are easy to make and have many healthy effects on a person’s body. But there is one more simple thing that people know about fermented foods - they taste very good!

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What about you? Do you like fermented foods or drinks? How are fermented foods part of your cultural traditions? Tell us what you think. You can leave a comment on our website. Or email us [email protected]. You can also comment on Facebook at Facebook.com/spotlightradio.

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The writer of this program was Rena Dam. The producer was Mark Drenth. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at www.radioenglish.net. This program is called, ‘Fermented Foods: Health and History’.

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We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.

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