Once upon a time, in the distant past, a nomad was crossing the desert on his camel. Hanging from the pommel was his precious supply of milk – carried, as was the custom in those days, in a bag made out of a cow’s stomach. Stopping to rest, he uncorked the bag to take a refreshing draught, only to find, to his shock, that his lovely milk had turned into something else entirely. Unintentionally, our nomad had invented … cheese.
The combination of the naturally occurring bacteria in the cow’s stomach, along with the heat of the day and the gentle stirring motion of the loping camel, had created ideal conditions for fermentation.
It’s an apocryphal tale, as told by fermentation guru Rain Kuldjärv, but something along those lines is the most likely origin of one of our most common foodstuffs. Fermentation goes back a long way, says Kuldjärv – author of Fermentation Plain and Simple – who specialises in its study as part of his work exploring novel foods at Estonian research institute TFTAK. “Remains of breadcrumbs dating back over 14,000 years have been found in the Jordan Valley”, he says, explaining that any bread made in the traditional way – and even most modern loaves – involves at least some fermentation.
