Our common nature is a musical journey with Yo-Yo Ma and me, Ana Gonzalez, through this complicated country.

We go into caves, onto boats, and up mountain trails to meet people, hear their stories, their poetry, and of course, play some music, all to reconnect to nature and get closer to the things we're missing.

Listen to Our Common Nature from WNYC, wherever you get podcasts.

It's the splendid table from APM, American Public Media.

Thank you. table from APM, American Public Media. I'm in Rosetta, Casper.

Have you tried Verju yet?

That's spelled V-E-R-J-U-S?

It's hot now, and it's an old-sossing idea from the Middle Ages that's come back.

Unripe wine grapes are pressed into this bright, clean-tasting liquid, almost a vinegar, but softer and a little sweet.

You can find it in wine shops and food stores.

Now, you can boil it down for pan sauces, marinate cherries in verju with honey,

cook carrots in it, or do a mojito with a splash of verju for a great kick. Well, stay

with us for lots more this hour on the splendid table. This is the Splendid Table from APM American Public Media, the show for people who love to eat.

I'm Lynn Rossetto, Casper.

If you think about it, everything we eat comes down to being either raw, cooked, or fermented.

Now, the raw and the cooked parts are fine, but the really intriguing stuff begins with fermentation,

like bread, cheese, pickles, miso, salami, tempe, prosciutto, and kombucha.

Sandor cats lives to ferment.

It's his life's work.

He studied around the globe, and he has written a definitive book.

It's for Wee Lehman, and it's called The Art of Fermentation and In-depth Exploration of Essential Concepts

and Processes from Around the World.

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