Skeeter’s Food Blog
It’s Harvest Time on the South End and no, I’m not talking about marijuana. The Bud Hut and legalized cannabis pretty much ended that era. I’m talking kraut. Sauerkraut. I know most folks wouldn’t put a forkful of the stuff near their dog, much less their mouth, but I spent some time in Wisconsin where kraut was considered, if not a delicacy, a staple. So I guess it was only natural that I became an artisanal kraut maker.
We got a couple of huge old stoneware crocks, one 8 gallon and one 12 gallon, that we’ve used, oh, the last 20 odd years. We have an antique maple cabbage shredder that sits over the crock with three blades about 6 inches long that a head of cabbage riding on a little box carriage passes over while each blade shreds nice long ribbons into. When we have a few inches’ worth we add a handful of non-iodized salt and a big handful of garlic, then shred some more. Once we got the crock full we haul it down to the shack where the fragrance won’t disturb those with delicate olfactory buds. They think it stinks to high heaven. Which it does about one day later.
The cabbage, see, is fermenting. Bacteria starts breaking it down and the water that’s released gets frothy and aromatic. I got a weighted stoneware lid that keeps the cabbage under the foam and in the liquid. When you think you like the stage of fermentation — or when you can’t take the smell any longer — you haul the crock back up into the kitchen and you bottle it in Mason jars. That’s what we’re doing tonight. Some jars we’ll boil to stop the fermentation and some we’ll just put in sterilized jars, let them keep ‘working’.
The old timers would keep their crocks in the cellar over winter, scrape off the mold and enjoy all those probiotics long before the yuppies ever heard of yogurts and live fermenting foods. Me, I’m not a big fan of scraping molds off my foods. Probiotics are one thing, fungus is another….
Next week’s food blog we’ll explore the mysteries of homebrewing. Probiotics with a Kick!
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Skeeter-
Long time listener, first time caller.
Love your blog and blogcast, just love it. Really hits the nail on the head, as well a few knuckleheads who had it coming.
Now I like this new Food Blog you’re starting up. The Make Your Own Sauerkraut episode is for sure interesting, and can’t wait to read the DYI Beer Brewing next week.
However, I’m concerned the blog may be short lived if your focus is only on foods consumed in Wisconsin. I mean, I like Wisconsin as much as the next guy from Wisconsin, but first sauerkraut, then beer, and if it follows course next up’s gotta be cheese. The end? I hope not.
Please assure us, your valued audience you have plans to include some other delicacies you’ve enjoyed over the years. Favorites from down South (Gonna Rise Cornbread) and the Great Northwest (Say Mon Jamaican Jerk Salmon). Your loyal fans deserve more!