Yoko Nakazawa Author Event • The Japanese Art of Pickling and Fermenting: Preserving vegetables and family traditions

Yoko Nakazawa was born and raised in Japan and moved to Australia in 2013. Growing up with a father who cultivated vegetables and a mother who expertly cooked and preserved them, Yoko developed a profound appreciation for traditional Japanese practices and fermented foods. Her expertise includes making miso pastes, fermenting pickles, furoshiki wrapping, calligraphy, and kintsugi. As an active cultural ambassador, Yoko conducts cooking and cultural workshops using vegetables she grows, emphasizing the celebration of seasons with fresh produce. She also regularly attends farmers’ markets, sharing the flavors of authentic miso paste and pickles. The Japanese Art of Pickling & Fermenting is Yoko’s first book. It won the 2026 ABDA Best Designed Cookbook and is nominated for two 2026 James Beard Awards in the Single Subject and Visuals categories. 

Gaby Maeda grew up in Honolulu, where diverse cuisines sparked her love of cooking. After training at the California Culinary Academy and cooking at Restaurant Gary Danko, she joined State Bird Provisions, rising from line cook to Executive Chef. A James Beard Foundation Rising Star finalist and one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs, she became Head Chef of Friends and Family Bar in 2024 , creating a welcoming space rooted in generosity and care.

In The Japanese Art of Pickling and Fermenting, preserving expert Yoko Nakazawa shares her lifelong passion of pickling and fermenting ingredients using age-old techniques that have been passed down the generations. Nakazawa grew up in rural Japan and helped her parents preserve the glut of their vegetable patch every season. Her mother taught her how to preserve food using ancient Japanese fermenting techniques to make Amazuke (sweet vinegar pickles); Asazuke (quick pickles); Kasa zuke (sake lees pickles); Misozuke (miso pickles); Nukazuke (rice bran pickles); and more. Upon moving to Australia, Nakazawa started to grow and preserve her own vegetables and became inspired to share her knowledge and recipes for pickling and fermenting all kinds of produce, including daikon, cucumber, cabbage, carrot, onion, garlic, ginger, umeboshi, even eggs, and chrysanthemum leaves!