We usually associate sauerkraut with German food, but the salted and fermented cabbage actually has a much more ancient role in the scheme of cuisine. It predates modern German meat-and-potatoes fare by a couple of centuries.
More than 2,000 years ago, Chinese laborers who were building the Great Wall of China supplemented their rice diet with servings of cabbage preserved in wine.According to the Fremont Co. of Fremont, Ohio, (producers of Frank's and SnowFloss sauerkraut) the taste for sauerkraut spread a thousand years later, when Genghis Khan paused in his plundering of China long enough to taste the local pickled cabbage. He and the Tartar hordes took it along with them and introduced it to parts of Europe.
In Germany, the Teutonic term for sour cabbage is "sauerkraut," and that's the name that Americans know.
The Fremont Co. has traced the history of kraut in more detail. According to company literature, "an English doctor in the late 1700s became fascinated with the absence of scurvy in the Dutch navy. He decided that it was their "zourkool' - a meal of pickled cabbage - that was giving them immunity."
It was cabbage's vitamin-C content that was warding off the bleeding gums and other symptoms of scurvy, a vitamin-C-deficiency disease.
During the same era, another Englishman and explorer, Captain James Cook, stocked his ships with large quantities of kraut. His men were served daily portions on long voyages. They liked it, and the preserved cabbage kept well for long periods of time.
When the Germans and Dutch colonized America, sauerkraut came with them. The German settlers in Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Dutch (or Deutsch), still use a lot of sauerkraut.
More than a generation ago, most sauerkraut was homemade instead of being packed commercially in cans, glass jars or polybags.
A friend of my grandmother's gave me my first taste of homemade sauerkraut when I was a high-school student. She shredded dozens of cabbages herself, using an antique wooden cutter and blade. Then she layered the slaw with coarse salt in old crock and set it to "work" (ferment) in a cool, dark cellar.
That first taste formed an indelible memory of crunchy, white sauerkraut, milder and less soggy than canned kraut. It was wonderful. And never have I tasted anything as good since.
These recipes for sauerkraut were gathered by the Fremont Co.'s consumer affairs director, Pat Woodland. She said Fremont customers often send their favorite kraut recipes and tell her how their grandmothers used to make it.
Some of those recipes are included in a new booklet, free with a postcard, with name and address, to: Kraut, 802 N. Front St., Fremont, OH 43420.
Polish Pork Casserole
14 to 16 ounces sauerkraut, drained
2 pounds pork loin, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 whole onion, chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 ounces of egg noodles or Kluska noodles
Boiling, salted water
2 bay leaves
1 cup water
2 (10-ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
1 whole red bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons brown sugar or to taste
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
Paprika (Hungarian preferred)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drain kraut and set aside. Cut pork loin into cubes and brown with onion in as little oil as needed in a large pot or Dutch oven. It may be easier to brown the cubes if done half at a time. Meanwhile, cook the noodles in boiling, salted water until done; drain and rinse with cold water.
Drain off drippings from pork; add 1 cup water and bay leaves. Cover and simmer pork 30 minutes. Remove bay leaves and discard. Combine cooked pork, onion and noodles in the Dutch oven with drained kraut; stir in both cans of soup (undiluted), the parsley, chopped red pepper, brown sugar and hot sauce.
Turn into a casserole and sprinkle top with paprika. Bake uncovered for 1 hour. Yield: 8 servings. Prep time: 1 hour. Baking: 1 hour.
- Recipe adapted from the Fremont Co.
Latvian Crockpot Kraut
1 (27-ounce) can sauerkraut, drained (or a little less than 2 pounds kraut)
1 small head of cabbage, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, diced
2 apples, peeled and diced
1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons bacon drippings
In a slow cooker (Crockpot), layer the drained kraut with sliced cabbage, onion and apples. Sprinkle each layer with caraway seeds and sugars. Pour bacon drippings over the top.
Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours (on high for 3 hours). Stir well before serving with roast pork and potatoes. Yield: 10 to 12 servings. Prep time: 10 hours in slow cooker.
- Recipe adapted from the Fremont Co.)