Media: East Asian Studies Center: Indiana University Bloomington

Welcome to the Indiana University East Asian Studies Center at the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

A brief introduction to the East Asian Studies Center's Food Lab initiative, and the worldwide, millennia-spanning practice of fermentation.

Description of the video:

0:00 we study cultures
0:02 it's in our name after all
0:05 we study work cultures food cultures
0:07 subcultures consumer cultures maybe even
0:11 culture wars
0:13 however when we talk of east asian
0:15 cultures few people probably think of
0:18 bacteria and other microbial cultures
0:22 that is about to change
0:25 every one of us consists of as many
0:27 bacteria cells as human cells in our gut
0:31 in our mouth
0:32 on our skin
0:34 we inhale and digest bacteria and we
0:36 excrete bacteria every day
0:39 bacteria are part of us
0:42 and that makes us part of the soil the
0:44 plants the fungi the air around us
0:47 we shake hands and by that we exchange
0:50 parts of ourselves
0:52 the bacteria connect us and blur the
0:54 boundaries between us and our
0:57 environment
0:59 without our bacteria we would grow weak
1:01 depressed mad
1:03 malnourished sick
1:05 without them we would die but bacteria
1:08 also kill devour alive and dead flesh
1:12 like the japanese deity's siblings
1:14 izanami and izanagi they are
1:16 simultaneously the bringers of life and
1:18 the destroyers of the living
1:21 our forefathers learn processes to avoid
1:24 harmful bacteria and invite the good
1:26 guys to be part of our bodies
1:30 those processes and techniques are
1:31 called fermentation
1:33 control fermentation is one of the
1:35 oldest methods for preserving food
1:37 around the world
1:39 most famous in the west is the
1:40 production of yogurts kefir cheeses
1:44 sourdoughs and of course alcoholic
1:46 beverages however in the last couple of
1:48 decades more and more attention has been
1:51 given to the extraordinary probiotic and
1:53 prebiotic qualities of fermented
1:56 vegetables
1:58 many of the most famous and innovative
2:00 restaurants in the world have thus made
2:01 their fermented products the
2:03 centerpieces of their brands
2:06 yet nothing defies globalization as much
2:08 as fermented foods
2:10 true we all know kimchi and miso which
2:12 have become stable household items for
2:15 many people across the world
2:17 but every batch is different
2:19 the unique mixtures of airborne mold
2:22 spores
2:23 local variants of bacteria on the hands
2:25 and utensils of the chef
2:27 and the peculiar composition of the
2:29 biota of the consumer that responds to
2:32 the fermented product in specific ways
2:35 cannot be replicated by large
2:37 corporations and the food industry
2:41 in east asia and in many other parts of
2:43 the world
2:44 fermented foods are not only essential
2:47 elements in people's daily diets but
2:49 also sources of local and national pride
2:52 and identities
2:55 with this project the east asian studies
2:57 center seeks to explore the roots and
2:59 multitudes of traditional east asian
3:02 fermentation practices and techniques
3:05 and present this microscopic world to
3:07 the general public
3:09 we hope that this will stimulate broader
3:12 interest in east asian food cultures and
3:14 history
3:15 but also that local farmers restaurants
3:17 and other food producers in our region
3:20 will find inspiration to explore new
3:22 ways to preserve refine and market their
3:25 produce
3:28 with the fermentation project we plan on
3:30 accomplishing a long range of objectives
3:32 that fit well with the mission of easc
3:35 so i hope you will join us in exploring
3:37 the worlds miso shoyu and kimchi
3:51 you

Based on excerpts from From the Edges of Disaster: Tanaka Takuya’s Poems on 3/11 and Tōkaimura Co-translated by Edith Sarra and Yasuko Ito Watt with Introduction by Edith Sarra, Red Moon Press in 2021. This manuscript began as a translation of 50 poems by Tanaka Takuya that Professor Emerita Yasuko Ito Watt and Professor Edith Sarra collaborated on in 2013.

This video features the Gayageum Workshop event hosted by EASC in 2017. The gayageum is a traditional Korean instrument. It is a 12 string plucked zither. While most gayageum have 12 strings they can even have up to 25 strings in some variants.

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