When I was growing up in Russia, where I am from, fermentation was a way of life. Sauerkraut, and brined cucumbers and tomatoes were sold in bulk sections in most grocery stores and made at home by many families in the fall to make the harvest last through almost 8 months of snow. Bread Kvass, a drink easily compared to Coca Cola in popularity – a staple in Russian food – was sold in the streets from huge barrels by the mug (yes, a big fat glass mug with a handle!), bag or you could have your own container filled with the tangy foamy brown goodness. There was nothing like ice cold Kvass to quench thirst on a rare hot summer day! Besides being a soft drink Kvass is a base of super popular Russian summer soup called Okroshka! Kombucha was also a staple windowsill or refrigerator top (based on a placement) item in many houses, only instead of Kombucha it was called Tea Mushroom. The jar with with the creature floating in the sweet tea was usually covered with gauze and rubber band and kids drank out of it right through the gauze often having mouth and nose buried in the SCOBY… Everyone survived, even the SCOBY And of course there are all of the wonderful cultured dairy products – kefir, sour cream (yes, sour cream goes on everything!), tvorog, ryazhenka and sourdough bread! To paint the whole picture, Russia is very fond of fermenting fruits and particularly grains, but it is a different kind of fermentation and a totally different topic ;)) I really don’t remember ever thinking of all those products as something fermented but that does explain the ‘addiction’ and why I was craving it so much after I left the country.