The French word 'choucroute' (for 'sauerkraut') derives from the Alsacian dialect 'sûrkrût' itself from the German 'sauerkraut'. Simpler for the English word which just adopts the original German word. 'sauer' is for 'sour' and 'kraut' is for 'grass'.
The beginnings were the sour soups, early prepared with young small branches, buds and/or leaves of birches, nettle and sorrel.
One discovered signs of pickled cabbage during the neolitic ages in the German food and in the food of numerous central European peoples. Starting XVIIIth century, the first manufactures for the 'industrialisation' of the barrels of cabbage settled in Magdeburg (Germany), then in Strasbourg (Alsace, France). Captain James Cook, in the 1770-1780s declared that its expeditions had been successful partly due to pickled cabbage. Actually, the addition of fermented cabbages into the daily food of the crews (thanks to the phosphorus, potassium and vitamins contained in them)had contributed to avoid some deficiencies and diseases due to lack of vitamins like scurvy. The British dealers of that time quickly understood its commercial interest and therefore settled wharehouses in many harbours ("the Sauer Kraut Magazins" where the expedition captains used to get their supplies before departure.
Later on, the usage of "salted herbs" allowed the first American settlers to go through rigourous winters.
We find all these old usages so called "From Old France" in the Acadian cuisine. Actually, our far cousins still preserve in salt cabbage, herbs ans mainly French pod beans they store in stoneware pots ("les croques" in Acadian French)
How to cook sauerkraut:
Find below the "sauerkraut of Colmar housekeepers recipe" (Colmar is a very old city of Alsace), one of the oldest ones to day.
Proportions for 6 people
In a pot going into the oven, gently bake with no colour 2 thinly sliced onions in 50 grams (1.5 onces) of goose fat so that it makes a layer on bottom of the pot then pour alayer of 500 grams (1 'big' pound) of raw pickled cabbage, add salt (not much) and peper and let it gently bake covered with the pot lid during 15 minutes. Then add 15 centiliters (1 cubic inch) of Sylvaner wine (dry white Alsacian wine, a raw apple cut in large segments and a few juniper berries that you have wrapped in a thin white cloth. Then pour beef stock to cover the cabbage and cook it in the oven at a temperature of 170° celsius (338°F)during 3 hours but after the first 2 hours, add a piece (1 kilogramme = 2.2 pounds approx.)of smoked steaky bacon and 15 minutes before the end of the total 3 hours, pour 5 centiliters (1/3 of the quantity of the wine you added) of 'kirsch' (dry white cherry brandy).
Presentation :
the sauerkraut is presented "crowned" by the steaky bacon sliced, roasted pork ribs ans small sausages (knackis type)and boiled (with their skin)peeled potatoes around the whole. Some purits say that the "real" sauerkrut is served with the 3 sacred sausages (Frankfurt, Strasbourg and Montbéliard).
Other purists, settled on the other bank of the Rhin river (i.e. in Germany)request the addition of fried oysters !...
And now, sauerkrut "from the sea".
It has been made popular by the famous "restaurant Baumann" in Paris in the 1970s and are still very popular.
The only difference with the above detailed recipe is that no fat (goose or pork fat or even steaky bacon) is added ; we moisten with a large glass of Sylvaner wine plus, up to the level of the cabbage with a good chicken custard base before going into the oven.
An infinite number of combination of sea food ingredients is possible ; smoked fish (halibut, salmon, haddock) but also some delicate fish like monk fish or turbot sections, dover sole filets. You can also try scallops or queen scallops. Insert them into the pickled cabbage and let them cook in accordance with the thickness and the texture of the fish (15 minutes for a monk fish segment, 10 minutes for sole filets,... You can serve the dish with a "beurre blanc" (in French) butter with white wine and shalots sauce in a separate sauce pan.
The interest of pickled cabbbage is that such cooked cabbage can be served as vegetables for numerous basis like roasted goose or duck, pheasant, young partridge, but also snails, fried eggs, sausages or black sausage, andouillettes, poultry quenelles ... And what about a pan fried pikeperch or an escalope of fresh salmon or of goose liver just pan fried.
We can also make delicious soups and even sauerkraut covered with grated cheese and gratinated.
And now 2 recipes you can find on our site :
->
the alsacian sauerkraut
->
the alsacian thick round of pork in sauerkraut
And for the ending :2 original sauerkraut recipes
1) The pickled cabbage salad
Wash several times your raw pickled cabbage, moisten it to just cover it and let it cook during 15 minutes. Rince it thoroughly and let it cool down.
Make a mayonnaise with mustard and a bit of grated horseradisch.
Add the cabbage, stir and add small cubes of sausages (Lyon or Morteaux - I am not sure one can find an appropriate transalation ?) plus some thin slices of saveloy.
A pure delight.
2) Pickled cabbage with chestnuts
In cooked pickled cabbage, add skinned and baked chestnuts and some segments or raw apple : the combination of cabbage and chestnut is just divine !
At last, I am fully aware that I only lightly touched this mytical recipe and that each county of the East (Alsace) has its own geniune one. I so invite all of you to use these pages of recipe proposals in order to deapen even more the level of our knowledge and of culinary share.
