My first-ever share of the complete research drafts from my book, footnotes and all
Our Fermented Lives is, without doubt, one of the things I’m most proud of in this life. And, like many food history books, only about 1/10th (ok maybe like 1/4) of the first drafts made it into the final version.
I’ve been asked to share my first drafts on many occasions: these are unedited, deep divey, full of footnotes, and much more academic in tone than the final. They are kind of a different beast in some ways, but a beautiful, complementary one. And so I’ve decided to do it.
As the author of this newsletter, and the book, I’m in the perfect position to share the drafts exactly in the way I want to.
This is the first installment of the Our Fermented Lives book club for paid subscribers, which I’ll add to monthly. Rather than buying my book (though, please do!) and going through chapter by chapter, this is a chance for you to interact with early versions of the work, see the footnotes for each piece of research in place within the text, and for those want to go deeper into the subject and have the chance to ask me questions about either the drafts themselves or the research.
One friend referred to it as my grimoire of fermentation history, which speaks to the magic of both fermentation and writing as practices. But ultimately, the power in this work comes from sharing and conversation: An inherently communal act, fermentation is made more powerful by our collective study and discussion.
I’ve lightly edited here and there for clarity: And I really want to hear what topics you want me to share about first. So please, tuck on in, ask me questions, and use this as a launch pad for your own research and culinary projects.
In the future, we’ll also have discussion questions and a live Q&A (and whatever else we decide).
Today, we’re starting with a whirlwind tour of grains.
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