Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is a fermented dish made by thinly slicing cabbage and salting it, before packing it and leaving it to develop lactic acid bacteria over a period of (generally) months.

I got into sauerkraut through the written enthusiasm of Sandor Katz in his book The Art of Fermentation. This page is a place I can note down reference materials on the preparation, flavouring, etc., of the foodstuff.

Flavours to try

As with all fermented products, additives can really make your kraut sing. The long period of fermentation provides plenty of time for flavours to develop and permeate the kraut. Some flavours get stronger than you'd expect, while some mellow out. Flavours which are usually bland or off-putting in fresh product can become delicious when left to the mercy of LAB.

A check ✅ indicates a flavour I have tried.

✅ Mustard and garlic

• Source: None

When preparing the kraut, peel and halve 1-2 cloves of garlic per jar. Add these, along with a teaspoon of mustard seeds per jar.

This kraut comes out of the jar tasting really punchy and almost relishy (as you'd expect with garlic and mustard added). It tastes like it'd go great with sausages or other meats. It can be a bit more overpowering than other flavours.

✅ Golden kraut

• Source: Goodbugs

Regular sauerkraut combined with oranges, salt, turmeric, and ginger root. I tried this with the tumeric and ginger root, but made the mistake of adding thin peels of ginger rather than grating it, on the assumption that the heat of the ginger would spread through the kraut but the ginger itself would mellow, providing some textural variety. In reality, while the tumeric was nicely distributed through the kraut I feel that the ginger flavour stayed with the ginger, making for islands of heat. Next time I'd grate the ginger too.

Citrus kraut

• Source: Goodbugs

Regular sauerkraut mixed with lemons, salt, and coriander.

✅ "Dutch" sauerkraut

• Source: None

This was based on a favourite red cabbage recipe my mum used to make - a variation of rode kool (Dutch red cabbage) with apples. In this case I fermented red cabbage with salt as usual, but added thinly sliced apple and cloves.

The resulting kraut was deep red, slightly sweet, and spicy. It's immediately leaped up the ranks to become one of my favourites.

✅ Carraway kraut

• Source: the majority of the internet

Every article I read on sauerkraut lists carraway as a common addition to sauerkraut. I added a few too many carraway seeds to my batch, but still didn't feel the flavour came through that strongly. I have been advised by others that it does, so perhaps this is just a random failing in my own sense of taste.