From homemade kimchi to kombucha, shrub cocktails, and making your own pickles, award-winning food writer Mark Diacono tells the story of fermentation, and offers recipes that maximise the transformative power of this amazing process.

From Scratch: Ferment offers a gentle guiding hand on a natural process that would happen without you, encouraging largely invisible activity of bacteria to work to your advantage. These skills take little of your time, they are particular yet simple, and the results are extraordinary.

Packed with useful, accessible information and focussing on back-to-basics skills, the From Scratch series is designed to inspire you to slow down and create. Titles include: Sourdough, Brew, Charcuterie.

Text is extracted and updated from Sour, with new recipes, by Mark Diacono.