Incompleteness
Japanese: 未完成
A state of not having reached completion. Fermented foods are perpetually changing, and a philosophical perspective that sees this incompleteness as their very appeal.
Fermented foods never strictly reach completion. Miso continues changing in the brewery, wine ages in the bottle, a nuka bed shows a different face every day. This perpetual state of incompleteness is the essence of fermented foods. Japanese aesthetics finds beauty in imperfection—the wabi-sabi sensibility values the incomplete over the perfect. To be unfinished is to be open toward the future. Perhaps fermented foods captivate us because they are living presences, each moment unrepeatable. Just as industrial products have finished states, consumers tend to expect completion in food. But fermented foods are mid-transformation even at the moment of eating. Freeing ourselves from the concept of completion may be key to enjoying fermented foods more deeply.