Book excerpt: While many food science programs offer courses in the microbiology and processing of fermented foods, no recently published texts exist that fully address the subject. Food fermentation professionals and researchers also have lacked a single book that covers the latest advances in biotechnology, bioprocessing, and microbial genetics, physiology, and taxonomy. In Microbiology and Technology of Fermented Foods, Robert Hutkins has written the first text on food fermentation microbiology in a generation. This authoritative volume also serves as a comprehensive and contemporary reference book. A brief history and evolution of microbiology and fermented foods, an overview of microorganisms involved in food fermentations, and their physiological and metabolic properties provide a foundation for the reader. How microorganisms are used to produce fermented foods and the development of a modern starter culture industry are also described. Successive chapters are devoted to the major fermented foods produced around the world with coverage including microbiological and technological features for manufacture of these foods: Cultured Dairy Products Cheese Meat Fermentation Fermented Vegetables Bread Fermentation Beer Fermentation Wine Fermentation Vinegar Fermentation Fermentation of Foods in the Orient Examples of industrial processes, key historical events, new discoveries in microbiology, anecdotal materials, case studies, and other key information are highlighted throughout the book. Comprehensively written in a style that encourages critical thinking, Microbiology and Technology of Fermented Foods will appeal to anyone dealing in food fermentation – students, professors, researchers, and industry professionals.