Late nights on the farm: Making Sauerkraut

Last week I posted some information on cooking with cabbage. The past two evenings I was at work making sauerkraut. We're getting close to cabbage inundation at the moment, so I decided that it's time to start getting some sauerkraut ready for the year ahead. It's an amazing source of vitamin C over the winter and a great addition to a variety of meals and dishes.

For the first time, I did both green and purple cabbage. I love the contrasting colours right after putting them into jars. I'm also going to try sauerkraut made from cabbage, carrots, onions and beets, plus an assortment of herbs for new flavours.

You can see the difference in colour after aging. The jar on the left was made last fall by our neighbours, John and Donna at the Glen Valley Artichoke Farm. On the right is my sauerkraut immediately after putting it in the jar (i.e. before fermentation).

Fermenting is an amazing way to preserve food for the year in a way that maintains nutrients. If you're interested in making sauerkraut, here's a recipe that provides you with the basics. If you want to learn more about fermentation, check out the Wild Fermentation website maintained by Sandor Ellix Katz. His book, Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods, is an amazing resource for getting into fermentation.