When I first met Jeff, I experienced homemade sauerkraut for the first time. He is the Sauerkraut King, after all. Sauerkraut is delicious, refreshing, good for your complexion (an Irish folk remedy) and is a good digestive tonic rich in enzymes. If our meal consists of cooked foods, we like to eat something fermented with it (as indigenous people did) and sauerkraut is one of our very favorites!

Here’s the recipe we use: (adapted from ‘Nourishing Traditions’ by Sally Fallon.)

-2 medium cabbages, shredded
-2 tablespoons sea salt
-8 tablespoons whey (if not available, use an additional 2 tablespoons salt)

Put your shredded cabbage in a large container and pound it with a wooden pounder for about 10 minutes to release juices (get an arm workout at the same time you make yummy food!) Place in glass jar and press down firmly until with a pounder until juices come to the top of the cabbage. The top of the cabbage should be at least an inch below the top of the jar. Cover tightly with a lid and keep at room temperature for about 3 days before transferring to cold storage. May be eaten immediately, but improves with age.
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There is a lot of information out there about the incredible benefits of traditionally-made raw sauerkraut, here are just a few things I’ve found…

“The proliferation of lactobacilli in fermented vegetables enhances their digestibility and increases vitamin levels. The helpful organisms produce numerous helpful enzymes as well as antibiotic and anticarcinogenic substances. Their main by-product, lactic acid, not only keeps vegetables and fruits in a state of perfect preservation but also promotes the growth of healthy flora throughout the intestine.” -Sally Fallon in ‘Nourishing Traditions.‘

“Lacto-fermentation of cabbage to make sauerkraut increases the levels of vitamin C and many B vitamins many fold” -Sally Fallon

“In Europe the principle lacto-fermented food is sauerkraut. Described in Roman texts, it was prized for both its delicious taste as well as its medicinal properties.” -Sally Fallon

“Captain James Cook, the eighteenth century English explorer who extended the far reaches of the British Empire, was recognized by the Royal Society for having conquered scurvy (vitamin C deficiency) among his crews by sailing with large quantities of sauerkraut. On his second round-the-world voyage, in the 1770s, sixty barrels of kraut lasted for twenty-seven months, and not a single crew member developed scurvy, which previously had killed huge numbers of crews of long sea voyages.” -from ‘Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods’ by Sandor Ellix Katz.

Happy Kraut Pounding!