Sandor Katz Explained

Sandor Ellix Katz
Birth Date:	20 May 1962
Known For:	Food writer focusing on DIY fermentation
Notable Works:	Wild Fermentation (2003) The Art of Fermentation (2012)

Sandor Ellix Katz (born May 20, 1962) is an American food writer and DIY food activist.

Work

A self-described "fermentation fetishist", Katz has taught hundreds of food workshops around the United States, and his book Wild Fermentation (2003) has been called a classic,^[1] "the bible for people embarking on DIY projects like sourdough or sauerkraut",^[2] and "especially notorious for getting people excited about fermenting food".^[3] He was named one of Chow magazine's top "provocateurs, trendsetters, and rabble-rousers" in 2009.

Personal life

Born to an Ashkenazi Jewish family with origins in Eastern Europe, Katz grew up in New York City on the Upper West Side. His grandparents immigrated from Belarus in 1920, then part of the Soviet Union.^[4] He is openly gay, an AIDS survivor,^[5] and began his fermentation experimentation while living in a rural, off-the-grid Radical Faerie community in Tennessee.^[2]

Popular culture

Katz was the subject of the 2009 punk rock song "Human(e) Meat (The Flensing of Sandor Katz)", a satirical vegan response to Katz's 2006 chapter on "Vegetarian Ethics and Humane Meat" in The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved.^[6]

Bibliography

• Book: Katz , Sandor . 1995 . Anne Frank: Voice of Hope . (Junior World Biographies) . Chelsea House Publishers . 0-7910-2120-3.
• Book: Katz , Sandor . 1996 . Whoopi Goldberg: Performer with a Heart . (Junior Black Americans of Achievement) . Chelsea House Publishers . 0-7910-2396-6.
• Book: Katz , Sandor . 2003 . Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods . Wild Fermentation (book) . Chelsea Green Pub. . 1-931498-23-7.
• Book: Katz, Sandor Ellix. The Revolution Will Not be Microwaved: Inside America's Underground Food Movements . The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved. 2006 . Chelsea Green Publ.. White River Junction, Vt.. 1933392118.
• Book: Katz , Sandor . 2012 . The Art of Fermentation: An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from Around the World . Chelsea Green Publishing Company . 978-1603582865 .
• Book: Katz , Sandor . 2021 . Sandor Katz's Fermentation Journeys . Chelsea Green Publishing Company . 9781645020349 .

External links

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1L46xWCWCo
• wildfermentation.com, Sandor Katz's official site
• Sandorkraut, a portrait of Sandor Katz (2014, 12 min)
• How the Farm Bill Affects What We Eat: with guests Michael Pollan, Dr. Marion Nestle and Sandor Ellix Katz . . 10 August 2007 . 30 July 2009 .
• Zeichner, Walter. Fermented Foods Carry Culture and Health (archived 2014). Out in the Mountains.

Notes and References

1. Web site: An interview with underground foodie hero Sandor Katz . 17 May 2007 . Grist Magazine . 30 July 2009.
2. Web site: On the Hunt for Wild Yeast: Chatting with home fermentation expert Sandor Ellix Katz . 18 March 2009 . CHOW Magazine . 14 September 2015.
3. Web site: The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved: An Interview with Sandor Ellix Katz . 15 August 2007 . Healing the Earth radio . 30 July 2009.
4. Web site: Pickling Pioneer Preaches Gospel of Fermentation . 19 September 2014 . The Scroll . 8 January 2015.
5. Web site: Katz. Sandor. Who Is Sandorkraut?.
6. Web site: Nature’s Spoils. Bilger. Burkhard. The New Yorker. July 21, 2014. July 11, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20140724152922/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/11/22/natures-spoils. July 24, 2014.