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The publisher's description of The Art of Fermentation: An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from Around the World is about as boastful in the book world as it gets: "The Art of Fermentation is the most comprehensive guide to do-it-yourself home fermentation ever published."

Here, it is spot-on.

This 500-page, prose-heavy manual is more an encyclopedia than an actual cookbook, meaning you won't find pretty photographs of homemade yogurt hanging out with beautiful cherry jams inside.

What you will find is a forward by Michael Pollan. And the only resource guide you will ever need for all of your soy sauce, sorghum beer, tempeh and hamanatto (whole fermented soybean "nuggets") weekend fermenting dreams. A Master Food Preservers-worthy guide to fermenting everything edible -- and some things that are not.

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jgarbee

Marmalade at the Huntington Library

The Huntington Library may be best known for its botanical gardens and art collection, but in the museum's kitchen, the citrus trees on the property are the main draw for the onsite chefs, who make some pretty fantastic marmalade from the fruit.

If you're a Huntington regular, you probably already know that the San Marino property was originally a working ranch with citrus groves, fruit orchards and various other crops. Which gets us to that really great marmalade.

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A. Scattergood

Short Order's fried dill pickle chips

What is a fried dill pickle chip supposed to taste like? If you have been to The Penguin Drive-In, a circa-1950s roadhouse in the Plaza-Midwood district in Charlotte, N.C., you know there are four steps that elevate this crispy, Southern-style snack food with zero nutritional value to total greatness: The slices of brined cucumber must be immersed in a buttermilk bath (some say the pickle chips must receive a good soaking while others insist they should take only the briefest of dips in a pool of clabbered milk batter); the chips must not hit the deep-fat fryer until the second the server can be heard screeching out your ticket item to the hulking fry cook; the crust must be light, crunchy and almost tempura-like; and, lastly, your order must come with a side of Ranch dressing.

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Flickr/comeundone

Jam, Toast or Confiture?

Bill Manning of High Desert Foods is the epitome of the organic apples-to-applesauce businessman. He's the sort of guy who cares about the broader societal and environmental impact of what he produces, yet he also appreciates that increasing the market value of a food product (heritage turkeys, bison, grass-fed beef and, sure, fruit-forward jams) is the quickest way to bring it back from near extinction.

Shortly after the Michigan-born ecologist bought a Durango, Colo., produce farm in 1999, he realized that simply selling his organic fruit the old-fashioned way wasn't going to make ends meet with the low profit margins. As he says on his website, "For small-scale farmers who are trying to compete in an economy that values food for how cheaply it can be produced, the principle of 'in diversity there is stability' translates into two strategies: first, having a diverse crop mix; and second, turning some portion of our harvest into 'shelf-stable' products."

For that shelf-stable side, he launched High Desert Foods with the help of Deborah Madison (yes, that Deborah Madison). Technically, Manning makes jams, only legally he can't call them jams because the jars are packed so full of fresh fruit. Ah, the red-tape breakfast table fun. Still thinking about starting an artisan food business? Manning (and Madison) both have plenty of advice.

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Felicia Friesema

Farmers markets and the vendors who populate them with table-bending piles of bumper crops and hard-to-find seasonal produce rarely sell every last item before it's time to collapse the pop-up tents and head home. Portlandian pickle jokes aside, what do farmers do with all those extra berries, tomatoes and apples?

Before you immediately let loose the cry of "Donate!" (and many farmers do exactly that), remember this food is their livelihood. A few have cleverly extended the sellable period of their produce by making their own preserves, butters and salsas and offering them for sale. Aching for a taste of summer Blenheim apricots? In January? Want a quick foodie gift of California-grown orange marmalade for the snowbound aunt in New England? Or maybe the idea of grinding your own almond butter seems about as rewarding as data entry? Your local farmers have some great products on the tables, and a lot of it is in jars. We've zeroed in on five of them who offer some outstanding jarred preserves made from what they grow.

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With the resurgence in pickling and preserving, Los Angeles County's revived Master Food Preserver (MFP) program is all the rage. The MFP, which we first reported on back in January, is taking applications for the spring 2012 class. Open to L.A. County residents, the 12-week session covers canning, pressure canning, freezing, drying and fermenting.

This isn't for the casual jam-maker. This is a serious course of study that requires a serious commitment. The class runs Tuesday nights (5:30 - 9:30 p.m.) from March 20 to June 5. After completing the class, graduates are expected to perform at least 30 hours of volunteer work a year. Apply online by February 10 at 5 p.m.

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Ball, Corp.

With the establishment the Master Food Preserver program here in L.A. earlier this year, chances are there are a few budding, or even master, food preservers on your shopping list. And it might be tempting to go out and get them a Ball canning kit and call it a day.

That's about as thoughtful as giving a pastry chef some random cake decorating kit. Sure the genre's right, but don't be surprised if the response is tepid gratitude. If they're already canning, they already have those tools, and probably much nicer ones. You can do better. Much better. And we're here to help.

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jgarbee

Laura Ann Masura Of Laura Ann's Jams Making Blood Orange Marmalade

In keeping with years past, we fully expect that about the time we polish off our last turkey sandwich, the online barrage of 2011 best/worst lists involving topics we've already heard entirely too much about this year will begin (holiday cocktail recipes, anyone?). Nothing against Casey Anthony or Charlie Sheen, but we'd much rather discuss the finer culinary highlights of the year. And so in the interest of getting a jump on Nancy Grace, we're going ahead and dubbing 2011 the Year of Jam -- or the Year of Mustard, Pickles and/or Kimchi, should you prefer.

Not only have we seen a surge of small-batch jam and preserves companies in L.A. (Squirl and Laura Ann's Jams among them) alongside that steady stream of canning and preserving books hitting bookstore shelves, but the second class of the L.A. County Master Food Preservers program is graduating today -- congratulations!

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Margy Rochlin

Tomato and coriander jam (left), sauerkraut (right).

This Wednesday, what was fleetingly Gus' Lunch Box will officially become Sqirl (pronounced "squirrel"), where you can buy over 15 varieties of owner Jessica Koslow's small-batch jams and preserves. Produced in custom-made copper jam pans, they come in dreamy flavors like strawberry and thyme, Elberta peach with lemon verbena, raspberry and lavender, and tomato and coriander. Bring in your own jar and for a price you'll be able to fill it with Koslow's sauerkraut or her crunchy, fantastically sour pickles, which taste of dill, juniper berries and the best deli you went to as a kid. The late Amy Pressman's and Bill Chait's Short Order will serve Sqirl pickles and sauerkraut, while Short Cake will sell her preserves.

If you've been yearning to overcome your fear of canning, you're in luck: On the weekends, Sqirl turns itself into a pickle and preserve university. Koslow's first class? A 101 on making your own pectin, Gravenstein apple butter and preserving seasonal fruits.

We checked in with Koslow, who was busily prepping for her shop's opening but happy to chat about her oddball career (which includes stints as an ice skater and an American Idol producer), how she ended up as a preserve queen and why vinegar is a no-no among artisanal picklers.

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Screenshot of Pete Wells' Twitter page