Experiment #2: Bohemian Sauerkraut

There are stories in my family of the large bucket of sauerkraut that was a permanent fixture in the basement of my grandparent's house. Being of Czech/Bohemian decent and with a surplus of cabbage from the CSA, I tried to call on the ghosts of the Krasny Family to experiment with the fermenting process.

The first attempt was using Alice Waters' recipe from the Art of Simple Food which called for added caraway seeds. I do not recommend. To me it sweetened the flavor and did not get as sour as I prefer it to be. However, the aforementioned cookbook is well worth the money.

The process is easy: slice the cabbage into very thin strips and put into a mixer with the correct proportion of salt (roughly 1.5 tsp per pound). Mix on low until a lot of water has been released from the cabbage. Place in a glass mason jar, at a weight to the top to keep the cabbage from rising above the water line. You can let it rest at a cool room temperature uncovered for a week, then put into the refrigerator.

THE CARAWAY SEED OPTION
THE STANDARD BOHEMIAN STYLE OPTION