Sauerkraut - The Miracle Cabbage + recipe at bottom

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Sauerkraut - The Miracle Cabbage

" In the Kitchen with Mother Linda, By Linda Joyce Forristal, CCP, MTA

http://www.westonaprice.org/motherlinda/sauerkraut.html

 

With winter upon us, I think it's a good time to talk about sauerkraut-one of

man's most ingenious ways of enjoying the garden bounty during the months

when fresh fruits and vegetables are unavailable. In my mind, the miracle of

sauerkraut is that the brine does not have to be inoculated with bacteria for

the

process to work; the best sauerkraut is made simply with shredded cabbage and

salt that is magically inoculated with atmospheric bacteria.

 

According to Harold McGee, the author of On Food and Cooking: The Science and

Lore of the Kitchen, the ideal salinity for sauerkraut brine is 2.25 percent,

with temperatures between 65-70ºF. These conditions produce the best

environment for a bacterium called Leuconostioc mesenteroides to grow and

produce

lactic acid. When the acidity of the brine reaches about 1 percent, another

bacterium, Lactobacillus plantarum, takes over to finish the job. The end result

is

tangy, crunchy bits of cabbage to top off a sandwich or round off a heavy

meal.

 

A new book on sauerkraut, A Passion for Sauerkraut: The Humble Vegetable for

Good Health by Sam Hofer, (Hofer Publishers, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada,

2001) is full of interesting sauerkraut lore and fascinating recipes,

including one for Sauerkraut Chocolate Cake!

 

In much of Eastern Europe, sauerkraut is made not only from shredded cabbage,

but from the whole cabbage head! I have seen huge barrels of cabbage heads

being brined into sauerkraut.

 

In early fall, when the temperatures are in the 65-70ºF degree range,

sauerkraut-making might take place on a balcony, but when the weather turns

colder,

the operation is moved into a basement or cellar. When sauerkraut is on the

menu, someone just fishes a head of pickled cabbage out of the barrel and chops

it up. In many Eastern European countries, whole fermented cabbage leaves are

stuffed with meat, rice and vegetables.

 

European sauerkraut has many cousins throughout the world. One of my

favourites is Korean sauerkraut or kimchee. In the old days, Korean housewives

fermented cabbage in the fall and early winter. The kimchee was stored in

earthenware

crocks buried in the ground just below the freezing level. In addition to

cabbage and salt, hot peppers, garlic and ginger were added to the mix which was

then covered and allowed to ferment for weeks. In Korea, kimchee is eaten with

almost every meal, and before it was readily available in the United States,

immigrants would bring it in from overseas. I heard one tale of an old Korean

woman bringing kimchee through US customs and when a jar broke on the conveyor

belt it caused quite a ruckus because no one knew what the pungent, stinky,

object could possibly be.

 

Another one of my favorite kinds of sauerkraut is cortido, or curtido, which

is popular throughout Latin America. The basic formula is shredded cabbage and

carrot, augmented with hot peppers to taste, salt, and different spices like

oregano and cumin. Each of my El Salvadorean friends makes it slightly

differently-and differently each time they make it. Curtido is always served

with,

and sometimes piled on top of, greasy foods like cheese-filled tortillas called

pupusas.

 

Chinese sauerkraut is called hum choy. It is prepared by covering Chinese

cabbage leaves with salt and letting them wilt in the sun. The leaves are then

placed in earthenware vessels and covered with rice water, the liquid obtained

from washing rice grains for cooking. The jars are sealed in such a way as to

remove all air bubbles and then placed in a cool part of the house.

Fermentation lasts for about four days, during which the leaves become greenish

yellow

and soft.

 

Many sources say raw fermented foods are beneficial to the digestive system

by increasing the healthy flora in the intestinal tract or creating the type of

environment for them to flourish. Sauerkraut and its juice are traditional

folk remedies for constipation. Fermentation actually increases nutrient values

in the cabbage, especially vitamin C. Fermented foods are also said to

facilitate the breakdown and assimilation of proteins. They have a soothing

effect on

the nervous system.

 

Before the days of refrigeration, sauerkraut served as the only source of

vitamin C during the winter in northern climates. It was used on long ship

voyages to prevent scurvy.

 

During the Civil War, some enlightened doctors fed sauerkraut to prisoners of

war, reducing the death rate from smallpox from 90 percent to 5

percent-something we should take note of with the current concerns about the use

of

smallpox germs as part of biological warfare.

 

Best of all, sauerkraut makes a synergistic combination with heavy, greasy

and cooked foods such as sausage and cooked meat, the kinds of foods that

nourish us through the winter. And because it aids digestion, you can eat these

foods without feeling tired afterwards just by adding sauerkraut to your plate

as

a condiment.

 

 

 

About the author:

Weston A. Price Foundation Board Member Linda Forristal is the author of Ode

to Sucanat (1993) and Bulgarian Rhapsody (1998). Visit her website at

www.motherlindas.com .

 

--

 

This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing

Arts, the quarterly magazine of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Winter 2001;

This

page was posted on 07/29/03

 

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By Bee Wilder

Taken From

Lacto-Fermented Foods & Drinks

 

Recipe for Sauerkraut

 

 

Ingredients:

 

1 Fresh Medium Cabbage (red or green)

2 Tablespoons Pickling Salt (Please no iodine, it will kill the bacteria)

Distilled Water (or filtered and non-chlorinated)

 

Shred the cabbage. In a large bowl, mix shredded cabbage and salt together.

Pound the cabbage mixture to expel the juices. Place pounded cabbage and juices

in a medium sized glass jar (1 Quart Sized). Press down firmly on the

cabbage. Add distilled water until cabbage is fully submerged. Solution should

be at

least one inch from the top of the jar. Cover the jar and let sit for 3 to 7

days at room temperature. Store in the refrigerator. Alternatively, one can use

Kefir grains to ferment the cabbage, just eliminate the use of salt.