Sauerkraut

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | JACQUELINE MONAHAN My recipe is for sauerkraut or fermented cabbage, but really, almost any vegetable can be deliciously fermented.

Ingredients

1 large (about 2kg) green or white cabbage, rinsed. Save a large outer leaf, if possible. 3 tsp coarse crystal sea salt 1 tsp caraway seeds or other herbs or spices

You can get really creative with fermenting and almost any vegetable can be fermented, although soft vegetables get mushy quite easily. Kimchi is a Korean-style fermented cabbage, which is always a huge favourite with people. I ferment chilli sauces, wild garlic pesto, cranberry chutney, homemade tomato ketchup, chimichurri, etc.

In my eight years of fermenting, I have had a few disasters—fruit can ferment quickly and turn to alcohol, over fermented vegetables can turn to mush, over salted vegetables can taste terrible and not actually ferment, and under salted food can cause vegetables to not ferment but rot. However, it is a great hobby and a great way to explore the world!

Every country has some fermented food in its history. I lived for three years in Guatemala, and we used to eat papusa (sort of like a small corn cake) with cortido, which traditionally was a fermented grated cabbage, carrot, and onion with thyme. Now it is generally made with vinegar as it is faster.

Method

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4. Evenly chop or grate the cabbage and place in a large bowl. Massage the salt into the cabbage for 5 minutes, then wait 15 minutes and massage until the cabbage begins to soften and release water. Eventually you will have a reduced volume of soft cabbage in its own brine (salty water). Mix in the caraway seeds or whatever herbs and spices you are using. Stuff the cabbage into a sterilised 1-litre jar (I use flip top jars as they release air). Pour all the brine into the jar. Cover the top of the cabbage with the outer leaf you saved to ensure that all the bits of cabbage are submerged under the brine. It can sometimes be tricky to keep wee bits of herbs and spices from escaping, but the bits that are exposed to air may be prone to contamination and cause mould to form. If you were not able to save an outer leaf, you can use a smaller glass jar or even a sterilised stone to weigh down the vegetable. 5.

6. Put the lid on the jar, ensuring you’ve left a bit of air space between the top of the brine and the lid. If not using a flip top jar and using a jar with a screw top lid, do not completely tighten the lid. As the cabbage ferments, it will bubble, releasing gas, and liquid will leak out. You can occasionally loosen the lid to ‘burp’ the jar, but be sure to place the jar in a bowl. Leave the jar somewhere out of the way. How quickly the cabbage ferments will depend on how warm the kitchen is and how finely chopped the cabbage is. In a room that is about 18–20 °C, the cabbage will be fermented and edible after about a week, but for better taste and maximum fermentation (and production of good bacteria) wait 2–6 weeks, ideally when the fermentation is complete (i.e., when the bubbling stops) or when the flavour suits your tastes. Store in the fridge or a cool dark room.

About Jacqueline

“I didn’t start making sauerkraut until I was in my forties, but it played a role in my life long before. I was reared in the USA in a typical Irish American family. Like many Americans our common choice of home cooked dinners spanned the globe (though not necessarily authentic)—Italian, Irish, Mexican. One of my favourites was German because I loved sauerkraut, which was yummy on buttered rye toast. This sauerkraut came in a tin and didn’t retain all the wonderful health properties that the raw live sauerkraut I now make has. ”

My most memorable experience with sauerkraut was when I was sixteen and had glandular fever and was home for a number of weeks from school. I got a terrible craving for sauerkraut so I dashed to the shops to buy some and of course my car broke down en route. This was long before mobile phones, so there I was, quite ill, not suitably dressed, and stuck on the side of the road for several hours. All for the love of sauerkraut. I arrived in Ireland at age twenty. I wasn’t really coming because I had distant family, it just sort of happened. And although I did travel and work overseas for years, I always came back ‘home’ to Ireland and eventually landed in Northern Ireland in 2003. My mother moved from the USA to the south of Ireland a few years ago and I hope to join her before too long. She’s not a fan of sauerkraut however.

‘Only You’ reminds me of my strange early teens when I was one of few people in the USA who loved English music. We sing this song every Christmas when we raise money for charity by singing carols, although it is not a Christmas song. I remember when I first saw the ‘Bloody Sunday’ video in 1983. This song has had a profound impact on my life and literally helped to shape me and my decision to dedicate my life to social justice and human rights. ‘Kilkelly, Ireland’ is amazing and is so indicative of the many people who emigrated from Ireland during and after the famine and who eventually lost touch with their family in Ireland. The backstory to the song is described in the introduction of this video and even still, I often cry when hearing this song. The village of Kilkelly is very close to where my mummy lives in County Mayo. My father died when I was sixteen and ‘Redemption Song’ was one of his favourite songs. Only Bob Marley can sing about slavery and make people feel uplifted and empowered. ‘The Wind’ reminds me of my 1970s childhood with a hippy mother. ‘The Parting Glass’ is one of the best, most wonderful traditional Irish songs that has been sung by many artists. A treasure. The Hozier version was dedicated to the lives lost to COVID.

>> Cooking Playlist

‘Only You’ by Yazoo ‘Bloody Sunday’ by U2 ‘Kilkelly, Ireland’ by Robbie O’Connell & Finbar Clancy ‘Redemption Song’ by Bob Marley ‘The Wind’ by Yusuf/Cat Stevens ‘The Parting Glass’ by Hozier