Sauerkraut

Food and Wine publishes a monthly column that might as well be titled, "New Stuff You Need To Try Now."   I was surprised to read about a company that is offering "different" flavored sauerkrauts to the paying public. 

FarmhouseCulture.com now carries the following flavors of sauerkraut:
Classic Caraway
Smoked Jalapeno
Horseradish Leek
Garlic Dill Pickle
Ginger Beet

They all sound intriguing.  Suggested uses - on a grilled cheese sandwich, on a hamburger or hot dog...    

Sauerkraut is a very, very old dish - Genghis Kahn imported it from his invasion of China and it became a European cure for stomach ulcers and canker sores as well as a traditional accompaniment to pork dishes .   In Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Dutch eat sauerkraut and pork on New Year's for good luck. 

Sauerkraut  is very high in vitamins C, B and K; in fact, the finished product has more good stuff than the raw cabbage alone.  During the American Civil War prisoners of war were fed it and that was believed to reduce the death rate among them.

Conversely, sauerkraut is very, very high in sodium which isn't good for people with hypertension or thyroid problems. Farmhouse Culture says that they use 1.5 lbs. of salt per 100 lbs. of raw cabbage.  That's probably the minimum that can be used and still crank out sauerkraut with the right taste.

However, if you're still leery of salt,  here's a recipe for curtido, which is a Central American staple, eaten as we would sauerkraut.  The Smoked Jalapeno sauerkraut above was derived from curtido says the manufacturer. 

CURTIDO
1/2 green cabbage, shredded
1 carrot, grated
1 qt. boiling water
3 green onions, minced
1 cup distilled white wine vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 teas. dried oregano

Mix the cabbage and carrots together and pour the boiling water over them.  Let it sit for 5 minutes and then drain off the water.  Mix the onions, vinegar, water and oregano together and stir into the cabbage-carrot mixture.  Chill for 20 min. before eating.  Served in tacos, it replaces the lettuce and tomato.