Sauerkraut

The other thing to come out of my Food Preservation class, which brought us misadventures in canning was my first taste of fermentation! This, I am told, is probably more up my alley. Apparently (and correct me if I’m wrong) you can put pretty much anything (or any vegetable?) in a jar in a brine, and once it’s fermented on the shelf for a few days, it will keep in the fridge forever! Here’s what we did:

– Cut up cabbage into thin strips
– Massage the cabbage with salt until it releases it’s liquid
– Add in juniper berries and caraway seeds
– Put the whole thing in a jar, making sure there’s liquid at the top and some air above that
– Leave it in the cupboard for a few days until it’s achieved the desired level of fermentation (or in my case, until you remember it’s there and, without tasting it, decide it must have been long enough)
– Put it in the fridge (or root cellar) and eat it indefinitely

I’m not super familiar with sauerkraut, at least not with homemade, so I’m not sure if it tastes the way it’s supposed to taste. But it tastes good – sour and crunchy (and a little fizzy?). And fermented foods are supposed to be so good for you, so, awesome!