Lucie Monk Carter
Microbial Universe
Kaitlynn Fenley and Scotty Chachere see the world in more detail than most. She’s a microbiologist; he’s a photographer. They’ve paired their distinct perspectives in the lifestyle blog Microbial Universe, in which Fenley educates readers on the fascinating role of microbes while Chachere provides illustration. From probiotic peach jam and sauerkraut recipes to travels to the Great Salt Lake and romps in the yard with Chachere’s dog (as it happens, dirt won’t hurt), the explorations are endless. The couple has expanded their passion project into The Cultured Guru, a fermented foods business set to launch online by October [update: You can find their shop here], in hopes that others will enjoy the fruits (or lacto-fermented pickles) of their labor.
I spoke with Fenley and Chachere on the world we don’t see, pseudo-science and hand sanitizer, and netting an audience with pretty pictures.
On falling in love with microbiology:
KF: It’s such a small world, literally. Everything’s so tiny, and you can’t see it. A lot of people can’t fathom it. To be able to look in a microscope and see this world that most people just go by in their day-to-day life, ignoring or writing off as nothing, really—I grew to appreciate it. Not a lot of people really take to this subject. I had four other microbiology graduates in my class out of everyone at LSU. It was apart from other things like zoology, macrobiology—the big things that everyone sees everyday.
Time came to apply for medical school, and my heart wasn’t in it. So, windy path—ended up at Red Stick Spice Company [where she works full-time]. I always had an interest in the fermentation aspect of microbiology thanks to one of my teachers and mentors, Dr. [Karen] Sullivan. She taught me how to make sauerkraut and yogurt and fermented soda. That stuck with me; and when I started working [at Red Stick Spice], it was an environment that fostered those things that I loved.
On The Cultured Guru:
KF: We’re going to sell three products starting out: sauerkraut, fermented banana peppers, and pickles. A lot of people, when you say pickles, they think vinegar pickles. These are going to be lacto-fermented, so they taste very different. They’re smoother.
SC: And don’t contain sugar.
KF: The food’s going to be fermented in thirty-gallon oak barrels. In the class I teach at Red Stick Spice Company on fermentation, I tell people that having a weight in their jar is the most important part to keep their ingredients submerged. Well, it’s really hard to get a weight for a thirty-gallon barrel!
SC: And if you think about the circumference of a mason jar, compared to a whole barrel, how are you going to find a weight?
KF: The answer was pizza stones! We found some polished soapstone pizza stones that are the perfect weight and they’re sixteen inches in diameter, while the diameter of our barrel is sixteen and a half. So it’s going to fit perfectly through the opening of the barrel.
On credibility:
SC: Probiotics is up and coming. But does everyone really know what it means? I feel like “probiotic” has become a buzzword.
KF: It’s misused.
SC: Unfortunately, there’s a lot of false information out there with other fermented food companies. None of these are being run by actual microbiologists. Whereas we’ll ferment our foods and we check every batch under a microscope ourselves. We know exactly what we’re looking for and what a pathogen looks like and what the absence of pathogens looks like. Having Kaitlynn on board is that pillar of credibility for people who’ve heard of fermentation and probiotics but are a bit wary to go in all the way.
KF: Scotty’s half owner, and he’s the person who shows what can’t really be seen to the world. Our Instagram is our pride and joy. It’s our little baby. So many people do write off microbes as just pathogens or as irrelevant because they can’t be seen. But they do so many things in the world that can be seen, and Scotty’s great at capturing that.
On finding an audience:
KF: There’s an audience we’re trying to reach—blog-wise and business-wise—that are still in that era of hand sanitizer and clean-all-the-things and kill-all-the-bacteria. And we’ve both come to the conclusion that the way to reach those people is through education. To get those hesitant people on board with trying fermented foods and buying our products, we do have a certain level of credibility. We’re seen as educators in our field because of Microbial Universe. Having that background from blogging and educating our community about it, those people might be a little less hesitant to try fermented foods.
SC: Sometimes it’s not the most fun to learn about technical things. That’s where the photography part comes in. Maybe we can lure people and capture them with the photography, but we can keep them with the scientifically backed information that we’re sharing. It’s the one-two punch!
On life off-camera:
KF: Really the first question we ask each morning is “What are we gonna post today?” I think it gave us some bonding time, something to do together. He’s really passionate about his field, and I’m passionate about mine. We didn’t want to only focus on our careers. We wanted to do something for us. We created our own thing for us. We didn’t have to go find it by the means of someone else. I think it’s made things more fun.
SC: It almost makes us more observant of the environment we live in. Baton Rouge as a whole—when I was at college, I was ready to get out of Baton Rouge. Now it’s given us a reason to appreciate the place we’re in. You know the saying, the grass is always greener on the other side? But if you give yours a little watering, it can be just as green.
KF: This is our water, in that metaphor.
SC: We’re making the grass a little greener.
