How hardworking microbes ferment cabbage into kimchi

I love fermented foods. I love that you can leave something out on the counter, in the refrigerator — forget about it, even — and it just gets better.

But why do some foods improve with age, while others spoil? I wanted to know how it happens.

So early one morning, I met Chef Patrice Cunningham at Tastemakers, a shared commercial kitchen in northeast Washington, D.C. She owns a small business, making and selling a deliciously fresh, spicy, fermented Korean condiment – kimchi.

Cunningham welcomes me with a handshake and a hairnet, and leads me to a large, steel prep table covered with about a dozen crates of Napa cabbage. She and her three assistant chefs chopped each leafy head down into bite-sized pieces. It's the first step in transforming the raw and humble cabbage into bright-red, funky kimchi.

"I'm turning cabbage into gold," Cunningham says, "We're in here, busting our butts every day to provide good food to folks."

Over the course of two days, Cunningham will walk me through the