Kimchi’s layered aroma first entered Lauryn Chun’s nostrils during her childhood in Korea, where her family regularly ate the traditional concoction of seasoned and fermented vegetables. After immigrating to the United States, they continued to enjoy the food—but, at least for Chun, with a more complicated awareness of it, as the spicy, smelly dish was poles apart from most American fare. Later, after a stint as a tastings editor at Wine & Spirits Magazine and immersing herself in European wines, Chun began to connect the complex scents of wine to those of kimchi, both a result of prolonged fermentation. Kimchi, she felt, deserved a place in the mainstream alongside other fermented foods, such as cheese and beer.