Eingemachtes — the fermented winter pantry reserve

Sauerkraut mit Wacholder (Sauerkraut with Juniper)

Name: Sauerkraut mit Wacholder (Sauerkraut with Juniper)
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: White cabbage — 1 kg (for fermentation); Non-iodized salt — 20 g (2% of cabbage weight); Juniper berries — 10; Caraway seeds — 1 tsp; Smoked bacon or onion — 80 g; Already fermented raw sauerkraut — 500 g (quick option)

PreservingDocumented🍋 🫙facile40 min (excluding 2-4 weeks fermentation)

Finely shredded white cabbage, salted and fermented for several weeks, then simmered with juniper, caraway, and a little bacon. Tangy and lively, it is the side that balances fatty winter dishes.

Eingemachtes — the fermented winter pantry reserve

Finely shredded white cabbage, salted and fermented for several weeks, then simmered with juniper, caraway, and a little bacon. Tangy and lively, it is the side that balances fatty winter dishes.

Never underestimate a barrel of cabbage: it is domestic science. Salt, time, and a little patience turn a bland vegetable into a tangy reserve that lasts all winter — a fermentation as regular as a good experiment. My household always kept a jar. I would put in juniper berries and caraway, then let nature work. And when the Bavarian cold bit, this acidity was worth all remedies.
— Georg Ohm

Ingredients

•White cabbage — several heads (base to ferment)
•Salt — about a handful per head (fermentation)
•Juniper berries — a good pinch (perfume)
•Caraway — a pinch (signature)
•Bacon — a piece (cooking)

How it was made : The salted cabbage was packed into large wooden barrels, weighted with a stone, in the cool cellar. Lactic fermentation — practiced without knowledge of its microbiology — preserved the cabbage and gave it its characteristic sourness for the entire winter.