Best Fermented Food

Geuze is a traditional Belgian beer created by blending young and old spontaneously fermented lambic ales. The mixture undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle, resulting in a distinctly sour, dry, and highly carbonated beverage. It is produced using wild yeast and bacteria native to the Zen...

Salted and fermented vegetables form the basis of kimchi, a staple of Korean cooking served as a side dish with everyday meals. Napa cabbage and Korean radish are common starting points, but kimchi encompasses many preparations rather than one fixed recipe. Seasonings often include chili powder, gar...

Parmigiano-Reggiano is an Italian PDO hard cheese produced in Emilia-Romagna since at least the 13th century, aged a minimum of 12 months and often up to 36 months, and is one of the world's highest-value cheese exports.

Produced from white grapes in the Jerez region of Andalusia, Spain, sherry is a fortified wine whose identity depends heavily on how it matures. Many sherries use the solera system, in which younger wine is progressively blended with older stocks. This creates continuity across successive releases,...

From northern Portugal's Douro Valley, one of the world's oldest demarcated wine regions, port is a fortified wine made by interrupting grape fermentation with grape spirit, or aguardente. This preserves natural sugar and produces a sweet wine with higher alcohol than ordinary table wine, commonly a...

Fermenting soybeans with salt and koji produces miso, a Japanese seasoning paste with a deeply savory taste. Koji commonly uses Aspergillus oryzae grown on rice or barley, while some styles use soybean koji. Ingredients and fermentation time create substantial differences in color and texture. Writt...

Made from skipjack tuna, Katsuwonus pelamis, katsuobushi concentrates fish into hard blocks that can be shaved into thin flakes called kezuribushi. Production includes filleting, simmering and repeated smoking. Mold-cultured varieties undergo further drying and fermentation, with repeated mold treat...

Sake is a Japanese rice wine fermented using Aspergillus oryzae mold in a process called multiple parallel fermentation, with a documented history spanning over 2,000 years and annual production exceeding 500,000 kiloliters.

Kriek Lambic is a traditional Belgian beer style produced by steeping sour Morello cherries in spontaneously fermented lambic beer. Originating from the Senne Valley in Belgium, the brewing process utilizes wild airborne yeasts to achieve its distinctively tart and dry flavor profile. The fruit is t...

Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage produced by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane juice or sugarcane byproducts such as molasses. The clear liquid that results from the distillation process is typically aged in oak barrels, which imparts color and complex flavor profiles to the final produc...

Yogurt is a fermented dairy product made worldwide by culturing milk with Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus, with evidence of production dating back over 8,000 years in Central Asia.

Flanders Red Ale is a style of sour beer originating from the West Flanders region of Belgium. It is produced through mixed fermentation involving yeast and lactic acid bacteria, followed by extended aging in oak barrels, often for up to two years or longer. The beer is known for its tart, acidic, a...

Lambic is a traditional Belgian beer produced by spontaneous fermentation, in which cooled wort is exposed to wild microorganisms present in the ambient air. It is brewed in the Zenne Valley and Pajottenland region southwest of Brussels using barley malt, unmalted wheat, and aged hops. Young and old...

Nước mắm is a pungent, amber-colored fermented fish sauce widely used as a core ingredient in Vietnamese cuisine. It is produced by layering small fish, typically anchovies, with sea salt in barrels and allowing the mixture to ferment for several months. Key production centers include the island of...

Camembert is a soft, surface-ripened cow's milk cheese originally produced in the Normandy region of northwestern France. According to local history, the recipe was refined in 1791 by a farmer named Marie Harel, who used advice from a priest from Brie. The cheese is distinguished by its bloomy, whit...

Sherry vinegar is a gourmet wine vinegar produced in the Jerez region of Andalusia, Spain, where its production is protected by Denominación de Origen regulations. It is made from sherry wines and undergoes a minimum aging period of six months in oak barrels. Producers utilize a traditional fraction...

Doubanjiang is a traditional Chinese fermented bean paste that serves as a foundational ingredient in Sichuan cuisine. It is primarily made from broad beans, soybeans, salt, and chili peppers. The most highly regarded variety comes from Pixian (now Pidu) County in Sichuan Province, where it is tradi...

Injera is a sourdough-risen flatbread central to Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine. It is traditionally made from teff flour, which is fermented for several days to develop its signature tangy flavor and spongy texture. Injera is fundamental to traditional meals, serving simultaneously as the plate to...

Stilton is a protected designation of origin British blue cheese produced only in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire, notable for its crumbly texture and characteristic blue-green veining from Penicillium roqueforti.

Coppa is a traditional Italian cured meat made from the muscle running from the neck to the fifth rib of pork shoulder. The production process involves salting the meat, often with garlic and spices, then stuffing it into natural casings and dry-curing it for at least three months. Originating in th...

Pu-erh is a uniquely fermented, aged dark tea originating from Yunnan province in southwestern China. It is distinguished from other teas by a specialized microbial fermentation and oxidation process that allows it to improve in flavor and complexity over time, much like fine wine. The tea is tradit...

Vacherin Mont-d'Or is a highly seasonal, soft cow's milk cheese produced in the Jura mountains straddling the border of France and Switzerland. Protected by an Appellation d'Origine Protégée, its production is strictly limited to the autumn and winter months when the cattle descend from their high A...

Feta is a Greek PDO brined white cheese made from sheep's milk or a mix with up to 30% goat's milk, protected under EU law since 2002 as exclusively Greek, and is among the oldest recorded cheeses in European history.

Cultured butter is produced by fermenting cream with lactic acid bacteria before churning, a traditional European method that yields a richer, tangier flavor than sweet cream butter, common in France and Denmark.

Fontina is an Italian semi-soft cow's milk cheese with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status, produced exclusively in the Aosta Valley region of northwestern Italy. Documentation of the cheese dates back to the 13th century, with its name deriving from the local village of Fontin. The cheese...

Crème fraîche is a French cultured dairy product with a fat content of approximately 30%, made by allowing cream to ferment with lactic acid bacteria. Unlike American sour cream, it has a milder flavor and higher fat content, resulting in a less acidic taste profile. Crème fraîche is valued in cooki...

Kefir is a fermented milk drink originating from the North Caucasus region, produced by inoculating milk with kefir grains—symbiotic clusters of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts. The resulting beverage has a tart, slightly sour flavor with subtle carbonation from the fermentation process. Unlike yogu...

Doenjang is a traditional Korean fermented soybean paste made from dried soybeans that are boiled, shaped into blocks called meju, and aged in brine. This process yields both the solid doenjang paste and the liquid soy sauce known as ganjang. Characterized by its strong umami flavor and pungent arom...

Raclette is a Swiss and French semi-hard cow's milk cheese from the canton of Valais, named after the French word for scraping, as it is traditionally melted and scraped over potatoes, pickles, and charcuterie.