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VEGETABLE FERMENTATION:
MAKING LIVE-CULTURE SAUERKRAUT
By Sandor Katz, author of Wild Fermentation
Fermenting vegetables is a delicious and extremely nutritious way to enjoy them. The fermentation process not only preserves the vegetables and their nutrients; it generates additional nutrients, as well. Sauerkraut actually contains more vitamin C per ounce than raw cabbage. Sauerkraut also contains micronutrients, such as cancerfighting isothiocyanates, which are not present at all in raw cabbages. This is part of the magical transformation performed by bacteria known as lactobacilli.
Lactobacilli are a critical element of human nutrition. They are part of every healthy person's intestinal microflora, the complex and varied internal ecology of microscopic life that lives in symbiosis with us. This microflora not only enables us to digest food effectively, it plays an important role in immunity, creating a competitive environment inhospitable to potential pathogens. Unfortunately, the human species has declared a foolish and unwinnable all-out war on bacteria. Many factors in contemporary life, such as antibiotic drugs, antibacterial cleansers, and chlorinated water, subject these invisible allies to relentless attack. We must find ways to co-exist with our bacterial partners. We must embrace them as our allies. If we wish to maintain a healthy and biodiverse microflora, we have to regularly replenish these bacterial populations by eating raw (unpasteurized) live-culture foods such as sauerkraut.
Sauerkraut is incredibly simply to make. At its most basic, it's simply cabbage and salt, though it can be made with many different vegetables and in many different ways. You can find kimchi and about 90 other fermentation recipes in my book, Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods. The major "secret" of vegetable fermentation is that the vegetables must be submerged under liquid to prevent molding and encourage the growth of lactobacilli. Beyond that, there is considerable variation in methods.
One major variable is salt. Traditionally, sauerkraut has been prepared with salt. The salt pulls water from the cabbage (through osmosis), enabling the cabbage to ferment in its own juices rather than diluting its flavor with added water. The salt also discourages the growth of other bacteria which could compete with the lactobacilli, enables the food to ferment for longer periods of time, and thus creates stronger, sourer-flavored krauts.
Some nutrition advocates promote the idea that salt-free sauerkrauts contain more beneficial organisms than salted krauts. I have found no evidence supporting this theory. In fact, salted sauerkraut is a common laboratory project in introductory microbiology classes, and these analyses consistently identify lactobacilli as the dominant organisms in salted sauerkrauts. Though it is possible to ferment cabbage and other vegetables without salt, a little salt results in kraut that is far superior in flavor and texture, and just as rich in beneficial bacteria.
Of course, not all salts are the same. Definitely avoid the standard American table salt, which is highly refined sodium chloride with added iodine and chemical anti-caking agents. In general, the whiter the salt, the more refined it is. More natural forms of salt, such as Celtic Sea Salt®, are grey, because they are less refined and contain not sodium chloride alone but a broad range of nutritionally important minerals together as they are found in nature.
Whatever methods you choose, ferment some vegetables! Cultured vegetables are wild fermentations, meaning that all the cultures you need are present on the skins of the vegetables. Though I recommend heavy ceramic cylindrical crocks as the ideal fermentation vessels, you can improvise using a wide-mouthed glass jar, enameled crock-pot or casserole dish, or another vessel already in your kitchen.
Fermentation is an ancient ritual that humans all around the world have been practicing for many millennia. There are no hard and fast rules: It has been practiced in infinite variation. Feel the powerful effects of these live foods in your body. The sour flavors of cultured vegetables, full of beneficial living bacteria, will start the salivary glands under your tongue squirting and stimulate your entire digestive system. Fermentation Fervor Forever!
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