Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut (
Although it is considered a
Overview and history
Although "sauerkraut" is from a German word (Sauerkraut), the dish did not originate in Germany. Some claim fermenting cabbage suan cai was already practised in the days of the building of the Great Wall of China.[7] However, the Romans, as previously noted, pickled forms of cabbage, and were the more likely source of modern-day European sauerkraut.[8] It then took root in Central and Eastern European cuisines, but also in other countries including the Netherlands, where it is known as zuurkool, and France, where the name became choucroute.[9] According to Mack and Surina (2005), the Slavic peoples of Europe likely discovered fermented cabbage on their own.[10] The English name is borrowed from German where it means "sour cabbage".[1]
The names in Slavic and other Central and Eastern European languages have similar meanings with the German word: "fermented cabbage" (Albanian: lakër turshi, Azerbaijani: kələm turşusu,[11] Belarusian: квашаная капуста, Czech: kysané zelí, Lithuanian: rauginti kopūstai, Polish: kapusta kiszona, Russian: квашеная капуста/кислая капуста,, romanized: kvašenaja kapusta, Turkish: lahana turşusu,
Before frozen foods, refrigeration, and cheap transport from warmer areas became readily available in Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe, sauerkraut – like other preserved foods – provided a source of nutrients during the winter. Captain James Cook always took a store of sauerkraut on his sea voyages, since experience had taught him it prevented scurvy.[13][14]
The word "Kraut", derived from this food, is a derogatory term for the German people.[15] During World War I, due to concerns the American public would reject a product with a German name, American sauerkraut makers relabeled their product as "liberty cabbage" for the duration of the war.[16]
Production
Sauerkraut is made by a process of pickling called lactic acid fermentation that is analogous to how traditional (not heat-treated) pickled cucumbers and kimchi are made. The cabbage is finely shredded, layered with salt, and left to ferment. Fully cured sauerkraut keeps for several months in an airtight container stored at 15 °C (60 °F) or below. Neither refrigeration nor pasteurization is required, although these treatments prolong storage life.
Fermentation by
A 2004
The Dutch sauerkraut industry found that inoculating a new batch of sauerkraut with an old batch resulted in an exceedingly sour product. This sourdough process is known as "backslopping" or "inoculum enrichment"; when used in making sauerkraut, first- and second-stage population dynamics, important to developing flavor, are bypassed. This is due primarily to the greater initial activity of species L. plantarum.[19]
Regional varieties
In
A homemade type of very mild sauerkraut is available, where white cabbage is pickled with salt in a refrigerator for only three to seven days. This process results in very little lactic acid production. Sometimes in Russia double fermentation is used, with the initial step producing an exceptionally sour product, which is then "corrected" by adding 30-50% more fresh cabbage and fermenting the mix again. The flavor additives like apples, beets, cranberries, and sometimes even watermelons are usually introduced at this step.
Sauerkraut may be used as a filling for
In Ukraine, sauerkraut is known as кисла капуста (kysla kapusta) 'sour cabbage' or квашена капуста (kvashena kapusta) 'fermented cabbage'.
In Russia, sauerkraut is known as кислая капуста (kyslaya kapusta) 'sour cabbage' or квашеная капуста (kvashenaya kapusta) 'fermented cabbage'.
In
In Bulgaria, Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, North Macedonia and Slovenia, usually the whole cabbage heads are pickled. Such produce is used for many dishes, from a simple salad made of chopped cabbage and sprinkled with paprika, to cabbage rolls. In northern parts of Serbia and Croatia, it is often added to the bean soup. In central Serbia, a local specialty called "wedding cabbage" is made by slowly stewing roughly cut cabbage with at least three kinds of meats, lean, fatty, and smoked.
In Romania, the local type of sauerkraut ("varza murata" = whole pickled cabbage heads) are used as wrap for the national dish called "Sarmale", a Turkish-inspired roll, made of pickled cabbage leaves with minced pork and rice, having its own personality and very distinct in taste from its Ottoman predecessor.
In
.In Chile it is called chucrut and is a common topping for sandwiches and hotdogs, especially for completos.
Sauerkraut, along with
-
Cooked sauerkraut
-
Pierogi with sauerkraut
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Kapuśniak made with sauerkraut
-
Central European-style sauerkraut and sausages is a popular snack dish in pubs.
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Czech Vepřo-knedlo-zelo
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Pickled Eisbein served with sauerkraut
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Alsatian Choucroute garnie
As Europeans, especially Germans, emigrated to other countries, many of them continued making and eating sauerkraut around the world.[27]
Health effects
Benefits
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | |
---|---|
Energy | 78 kJ (19 kcal) |
4.3 g | |
Sugars | 1.8 g |
Dietary fiber | 2.9 g |
0.14 g | |
0.9 g | |
Vitamins | Quantity %DV† |
Vitamin B6 | 8% 0.13 mg |
Vitamin C | 17% 15 mg |
Vitamin K | 11% 13 μg |
Minerals | Quantity %DV† |
Iron | 8% 1.5 mg |
Sodium | 29% 661 mg |
Other constituents | Quantity |
Water | 92 g |
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[28] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.[29] |
Many health benefits have been claimed for sauerkraut:
- It is a high source of vitamins C and K;[30] the fermentation process increases the bioavailability of nutrients rendering sauerkraut even more nutritious than the original cabbage.[31] It is also low in food energy and high in calcium and magnesium, and it is a very good source of dietary fiber, folate, iron, potassium, copper and manganese.[30]
- If
- During the American Civil War, the physician John Jay Terrell (1829–1922)[33] was able to successfully reduce the death rate from disease among prisoners of war; he attributed this to feeding his patients raw sauerkraut.[34]
- Sauerkraut and its juice is a time-honored folk remedy for canker sores. The treatment is to rinse the mouth with sauerkraut juice for about 30 seconds several times a day, or place a wad of sauerkraut against the affected area for a minute or so before chewing and swallowing the sauerkraut.[35]
- In 2002, the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry reported that Finnish researchers found the isothiocyanates produced in sauerkraut fermentation inhibit the growth of cancer cells in test tube and animal studies.[36] A Polish study in 2010 concluded that "induction of the key detoxifying enzymes by cabbage juices, particularly sauerkraut, may be responsible for their chemopreventive activity demonstrated by epidemiological studies and in animal models".[37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44]
Disadvantages
Excessive consumption of sauerkraut may lead to bloating and flatulence due to the trisaccharide raffinose, which the human small intestine cannot break down. This does not negatively affect long-term health, although it might be uncomfortable.[45] Additionally, sauerkraut has a very high sodium content.[46]
Similar foods
Many other vegetables are preserved by a similar fermentation pickling process:
- Achaarin India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan
- Atsarain the Philippines
- Brovada in Friuli, northern Italy
- Curtido in El Salvador
- Dill picklesin eastern and central Europe
- Encurtido in Central America
- Kimchi in Korea
- Silage, a feed for cattle
- Suan cai in northeastern China
- Tsukemono in Japan
- Kabichima in The Caribbean
- Kiseli kupus in Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, and Bulgaria
See also
- Baiuvarii
- Coleslaw
- Foods containing tyramine – Chemical compound
- List of ancient dishes and foods
- List of cabbage dishes
- List of fermented foods
- Sauerkraut missions
- Suan cai – Traditional Chinese pickled vegetables
- Whole sour cabbage – Fermented vegetable preserve
References
- ^ a b Harper, Douglas. "sauerkraut". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8493-1372-1.
- ^ a b "Fermented Fruits and Vegetables - A Global SO Perspective". United Nations FAO. 1998. Retrieved 10 June 2007.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-544-18631-6.
- ISBN 978-1-55092-471-8. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-313-32773-5.
- ^ Pincus, Harry (14 November 1979). "Sauerkraut: It All Began in China". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
- ^ "A "Short" History of Fermentation". Gesundheit Fermentations.
- ^ Gazette, The (22 September 2007). "Sauerkraut rises above its humble origins". Canada.com. Archived from the original on 26 August 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
- ^ Mack & Surina 2005, p. 78.
- ^ "Kələm turşusu". 1001dad (in Azerbaijani). 11 November 2014. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
- ^ "Sauerkraut - Sauerkraut Is the Quintessential Eastern European Vegetable - all About Sauerkraut". Easteuropeanfood.about.com. 12 June 2010. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
- ^ "Vitamin C Deficiency (Scurvy)". Vitamin Deficiency Info (blog). Archived from the original on 1 May 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- PMID 15991750.
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary. Second edition, 1989. "1. = SAUERKRAUT, SOURCROUT. Also attrib. and Comb. 2. (Often with capital initial.) A German, esp. a German soldier. Also attrib. and Comb. Derogatory."
- ^ "Sauerkraut may be 'Liberty Cabbage'" (PDF). The New York Times. 25 April 1918. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
- ISBN 9783540699330.
- doi:10.1111/j.1365-2621.2004.tb17874.x. Archived from the original(PDF) on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
- PMID 25121339. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
- ^ "Pierogi - the best guide to the most popular Polish food". www.tastingpoland.com.
- ^ "Bigos (Hunter's Stew)". Allrecipes. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-307-75457-8.
- ^ "Meet the Germans – Typically German - The Germans and ... - Sauerkraut - Goethe-Institut". Goethe.de. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
- ^ "Sauerkraut on New Year's a Pennsylvania tradition". TimesUnion.com. 31 December 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
- ISBN 9780595180806– via Google Books.
- ^ Pitts, Jonathan (25 November 2013). "Sauerkraut and turkey: an essential Baltimore Thanksgiving". The Baltimore Sun.
- ^ Heuzenroeder, Angela May. A food culture transplanted: origins and development of the food of early German immigrants to the Barossa Region, South Australia (1839-1939). PhD dissertation., 2006.
- ^ United States Food and Drug Administration (2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels". Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- )
- ^ a b "Nutrition Facts". Retrieved 11 June 2015.
- ^ ISBN 978-1609619459.
- ^ Martina Watts. "Fancy Some Sauerkraut?". TheHealthBank. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
- ^ Haggard, Robert F (1998). "Samuel Miller and the Founding of the Miller School of Albemarle". The Magazine of Albemarle County History. 56 (53–76): 62.
- ^ Ward, Jessica B. 2004. Food to Die for: A Book of Funeral Food, Tips and Tales from the Old City Cemetery, Lynchburg, Virginia. Lynchburg, VA: Southern Memorial Association, pp. 149–150.
- ^ "Sauerkraut as a remedy for canker sores". Los Angeles Times. 15 February 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
- ^ EurekAlert (2002). "Sauerkraut contains anticancer compound".
- PMID 21092375.
- .
- PMID 12561618.
- S2CID 7782951.
- S2CID 30048800. Archived from the originalon 16 December 2012.
- PMID 17035381.
- S2CID 25013053.
- S2CID 19673521.
- ^ St. John, Tina (5 June 2011). "Can You Eat Too Much Sauerkraut?". Livestrong.com. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
- ^ "Sauerkraut & Sodium". LIVESTRONG.COM. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
Bibliography
- USDA Canning guides, Volume 7
- "rec.foods.preserving FAQ". Retrieved 23 April 2006.
- Aubert, Claude (1999). Keeping Food Fresh: Old World Techniques & Recipes. Chelsea Green Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-890132-10-1.
- Fallon, Sally; Enig, Mary G. (2001). Nourishing Traditions...[westonaprice.org; newtrendspublishing.com]. New Trends Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9670897-3-7.
- Katz, Sandor Ellix (2003). Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods. Chelsea Green Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-931498-23-4. Retrieved 23 April 2006.
- Kaufmann, Klaus (2001). Making Sauerkraut and Pickled Vegetables at Home. Book Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-55312-037-7. Archived from the originalon 28 June 2009.