Christine Baumgarthuber holds a doctorate in English Literature from Brown University and keeps The Austerity Kitchen, a site that, as its name implies, considers plebeian culinary practices, past and present, in their historical context. She is also a columnist at The New Inquiry. Her work has been featured by Lapham’s Quarterly Roundtable and the Bon Appétit blog. Her book Fermented Food: The History and Science of a Microbial Wonder will be out Spring/Summer 2021 from Reaktion Books.