Sauerkraut

 Sauerkraut is a fermented food that is highly underrated as a health product.  It was given its name in Germany, the people there enjoying the sour flavour and health benefits that it provided.  When the war came part of the word was used as slang to indicate a person from Germany.

 It belatedly occurred to me, since the last post on Fermentation, that someone might like to make sauerkraut.  It is so easy to make that you will be practically ensured of success.  You will also create a product that is really tasty and very good for re bugging the gut with good bacteria. It is important to have 'good' bacteria in the gut as it is these that will ensure better digestion of the foods you eat.  They also produce numerous enzymes and vitamins useful for health and digestion; and they do not allow unfavourable bugs to colonize your gut.

So, here it is.
You will need a bowl, a cabbage (the amount of which will be dependent on how much sauerkraut you want to make.  It does reduce quite substantially), celtic sea salt, a pounder to hit the cabbage with and whey.  The whey is optional but helps in the fermentation phase.

When you have all these, put the cabbage and whey in the bowl, sprinkle a teaspoon of salt over it, and pound, pound away until the cabbage has lots of fluid around it and the cabbage is squashed. Put the cabbage in your storage jar, together with all the liquid, and push the cabbage to the bottom. Top it with a weight to hold the cabbage under the fluid; or if you have a grape vine use one of its leaves to top it off. 

Because it is so salty, the liquid will preserve the cabbage, but if you let air touch it will become mouldy. Leave it on the kitchen shelf for a day or so to allow it to ferment and then put it in the fridge to slow down the fermentation process.  The longer you leave it, the stronger the taste will be. You are more likely to throw it away because you are sick of it being there, rather than it has gone off.

Perhaps, like me, you will eat it as a condiment, or put it into stirfries so that the meal becomes really tasty. Whichever way you choose to use it, you can be sure your proactivity will be worth it.

Until next time,
Linda.