Jul 012010
 

This recipe has been handed down to me by my mother, who learnt to cook from other women in the Displaced Persons camps in Germany, post World War II. She continued to learn her culinary skills in the immigration camp at Bonegilla and, in later years, from the recipe booklets in the original Australian Women’s Weekly and New Idea magazine.

Ingredients

4 medium cabbages (firm centre and not the crinkly type)
120g grated carrot
80g cooking salt
6 small Granny Smith apple
8 litre (approximately) straight sided ceramic or glass container

Method

Day 1

Take 2 cabbages and remove all outer damaged leaves from each cabbage.

Cut each cabbage into quarters (this makes it easier to shred) on a clean kitchen table shred each quarter cabbage finely, either with a sharp knife or shredding device.

Sprinkle 40g salt and 60g grated carrot over the cabbage mound. Rub the grated carrot and salt by hand into the shredded cabbage, thoroughly mixing all the ingredients. Punch down the cabbage mix into the ceramic container. Add the apples on top of the compressed cabbage mix. Repeat the same procedure for the remaining 2 cabbages adding the rest of the salt and grated carrot. Punch down this cabbage mix on top of the apples.

Now the cabbage mixture needs to be weighted down. Place a small dinner plate or biggish bread and butter plate on top of the cabbage.

Fill a large glass jar with water (needs to be sufficiently heavy to further compress the cabbage). Cover with a clean cloth and leave aside in a cool to cold storage area. (Note must not be placed in a warm area or the wrong type of fermentation will take place). Leave for 48 hours.

Day 3

A liquid should have formed around the plate. Check to see if some scum has also appeared. Remove the weight and plate and gently skim off any scum into a small bowl and discard. Using a long handled wooden spoon poke holes into the cabbage (finding a spot between the apples) to release some of the gasses. Gently rotate the container in a circular motion, as this will further assist in releasing the built-up gasses.

Replace the plate and weight. Cover the cabbage and return it to its cold storage.

Days 4–7

Check daily and remove any scum and release gasses as described above. The sauerkraut is ready when no more scum appears. Depending on how cold the overnight temperature is, the whole process may take between 4 to 7 days. Halving the recipe may also speed up the process

Handy hints:
Sauerkraut is best done during the colder months, when overnight temperatures are consistently in single digits.

Adding too much grated carrot will give the finished product a ‘too yellow’ appearance.

Coarsely shredded cabbage may not sour appropriately.

Storage:

Refrigerate in glass jars. Stored this way the sauerkraut will keep for several months. over time there maybe some discolouration in the sauerkraut, but as long as it still has its original aroma, it will be OK.

Author

Vera Herman
Greensborough

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