Presentation short abstract

This paper focuses on the relations between microbes and humans in sourdough-making, following some practices and knowledges around experimenting and caring for, and working together with sourdough microbes. It thus explores doing human-microbial interactions in post-Pasteurian worlds.

Presentation long abstract

Fermented products, among them not just kimchi, kombucha and kefir but also sourdoughs, have become trendy in the last years. Age-old food-making traditions turn into modern practices: their role for healthy and sustainable lives and their effect on microbiome, skin and overall health is emphasized, and increasingly, younger generations turn to consume or even make fermented products at home – echoing the wider shift from pasteurized societies (Latour, 1988) to post-Pasteurian worlds (Lorimer, 2020; Paxson, 2008). Working with fermented products, though, can be fragile and inherently relies on more-than-human communication with microbes, such as looking for signs of microbial action, attuning to microbial needs, and tinkering with ingredients and processes (Hey, 2021; Pintér, 2025; Sariola, 2021). In consequence, a form of experimenting care when working with microbial actors is necessary, both in commercial settings and in kitchens at home.

In this contribution, I use autoethnographic experiences and visual material to take a closer look at the relations between microbes and humans in sourdough-making. Hence, this contribution follows some practices and knowledges around experimenting and caring for and working together with sourdough microbes, highlighting the fragile relations between humans, microbes, environment and cultural knowledge. It explores how forms of experimentality and care provide new perspectives of doing human-microbial interactions, understanding nature-culture relations, and potentially contribute to forming community- and solidarity-oriented practices for humans and more-than-humans.