The Philosophy of Pickles and Fermented Food

Pickling and fermentation are often treated as trendy techniques or markers of gut-health awareness—but they are also among the most ancient and globally practiced forms of food preservation. In this slim volume, Thom Eagle considers not only how fermented foods are made, but why they persist across cultures and centuries.

Eagle touches on traditions as varied as Georgian brined vegetables, Korean kimjang, and Japanese nukadoko, exploring how these practices are passed down and adapted, and how they connect people to both place and memory. His attention to the enduring presence—and enduring mystery—of fermentation gives the book a philosophical weight beyond the practical.

This is a short work, part of the British Library’s “Philosophy of...” series, and readers shouldn’t expect comprehensive history or instruction. But Eagle is a perceptive and evocative writer, with an eye for the poetic as well as the microbial. His reflections on cultural continuity and the meaning of preservation will resonate with anyone who has found themselves captivated by a bubbling crock or the sharp aroma of something slowly transforming on the counter.

Hardcover. Black-and-white photographs.