Last week, at the end of Market as I was walking around, I noticed

Sauerkraut under the weights fermenting away!

that there was lots of cabbage left over.  It was at that moment that I knew that it was time to make some sauerkraut!  So, I scooped up a few heads of cabbage and headed home for the day.  A few weeks earlier, I had mentioned to my husband that I'd like to get a fermentation crock.  For years now, I've been rigging up a system that successfully kept the air out of my fermenting cabbage, but it required a lot of attention.  So, I talked to Sarah, the Market's potter, about her crock and her sauerkraut recipe (she is also an avid fermenter) and finally bought one.  Now with the cabbage season at full tilt, I spent some time this weekend chopping, salting and pounding and now, I've got a crock full of fermenting cabbage on my counter!

As I do every year, I consulted WildFermentation.com for a little refresher about making sauerkraut.  The website has a step by step, thorough recipe for making sauerkraut.  If you have the time or inclination, I highly recommend making a batch!

While making sauerkraut can be a very time consuming project, I have found lots of enjoyment in it over the years.  For me, it is  very satisfying to enjoy the fruits of my labors and oftentimes home-made is much better than store bought.  I've also found that it is a way to get in touch with my roots.  About 10 years ago, my mom and I embarked on making our first batch of sauerkraut.  Her grandmother had made sauerkraut, but my mom had never learned the art of fermenting.  So, we gave it a shot, cut up lots of cabbage, salted it, pounded it and waited.  Our first batches went bad, so we re-grouped and tried again.  The second batch worked and it was delicious.  That summer, we told my grandmother about our kraut making and she told us that when she was a child they made huge crocks of it, stored it in the basement and when they wanted to eat it, they would go to the crock, skim off the top layer and eat the fermenting kraut underneath.  She also gave us some tips which proved to be very helpful with subsequent batches. My batches are small in comparison to my great-grandmother's, but each time I go through the process of chopping, salting, pounding and waiting, I feel as though I'm keeping alive an art and a skill that my grandparents, great-grandparents and beyond used and perfected in order to survive.  And it tastes oh.so.good!


UPCOMING EVENTS:

Quick Dinner's From the Market with Susan Sink, Tarheel Foodie on June 20 starting at 3:30pm