Sauerkraut

Ingredients

• large firm cabbages
• a good handful of fine salt
• a heavy weight

Method

1. 1

   Shred cabbage finely, layer in a crock with salt, press tightly.

2. 2

   Cover with leaves and cloth, weigh down, and ferment until bubbles form.

3. 3

   Move to a cooler place until brine forms a crust.

As published

This recipe was extracted from The "Queen" cookery books: Pickles and Preserves (1902) by S. Beaty-Pownall, page 47. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

Sauerkraut. — This is a favourite Germau pickle and is not at all difficult to prepare, granted a little care. Choose large firm cabbages with good white hearts, and leave these in a cool comer of the •cellar for a day or two before using them. Mean- while line a crock, or a small keg, with cabbage or vine-leaves, then shred the cabbages down very finely —v - PICKLES AND PRESERVES. 95 into the keg, sprinkling fine salt pretty evenly "be- tween the layers. (Be careful not to use too much salt, or the kraut will not ferment properly, A good handful will be enough for a fairly large crock.) Press the shredded cabbage down very tight, and close, as you put it in, and when the crock is as full as it can possibly hold, sprinkle a little more salt over the top, then cover it all over, first with cabbage or vine- leaves, then with a doubly folded clean cloth. Now put a wooden cover over the top, weighting this down well with a heavy weight, and set the crock in a warm cellar till it starts fermenting, i.e. when little white bubbles form on the surface of the mass. Now transfer the keg to a cooler place and leave it till the brine dries into a firm crust over the top, when it is ready for use. Once a week the leaves at the top must be renewed, and the linen cloth well washed in cold water, and put back. This is the common way of making this, but little alterations are made in various families, as for instance the addition of carraway seeds, juniper berries, &c. Use a wooden spoon for lifting it out, and see that there is always just sufficient brine to cover the cabbage, and be particular about keeping it covered with the linen cloth and the weighted board. Cabbage, Yellow Pickle. — Choose fine white and tender cabbages, and cut them in four or eight, accor- ding to their size. Soak these in strong brine tor three days, then scald in clear water till you can pierce them with a straw. Now lift them out and lay them to dry, on large dishes, for twenty-four hours ; after which, put them into strong vinegar with sufficient 96 PICKLES AND PRESERVES. turmeric to make it all yellow. Leave it in this for ten days, then take it out, and drain on a reversed sieve for some hours. Now prepare the following : 3oz. turmeric, 2oz. ginger, 4oz. grated horseradish, 2oz. white mustard seed, 2oz. whole white pepper, 4oz. garlic, |oz. celery seed, foz. mace, and mix these all well together. Then pack the cabbages in a crock, strewing each layer thickly with the mixed spice, alternating each layer, till the crock is full ; then pour over it all two gallons of vinegar, pre- viously boiled up with 51b. of sugar, and poured hot over the pickle. These quantities are for four good cabbages. (A Creole recipe.) Cabbage, Red. — Strip off the outer leaves, quarter the cabbage, remove the hard stalk, and then shred the rest pretty finely. Spread this shredded cabbage out on a large flat dish, strew over it a good handful of fine salt

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.