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Anonimo

Oct 24, 2005, 2:26 AM

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Making Sauerkraut in Mexico

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MazDee and I were discussing making sauerkraut at home. I have some questions about this. I've made kosher-style dill pickles several times, but never sauerkraut and never in Mexico.

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I was wondering how one cleans the cabbage for sauerkraut before salting it down. Surely you can't use vegetable disinfectant, as it would kill off the beneficial bacteria as well as any harmful. Maybe just a wash in clean water, and the salt kills off the bad guys?

Saludos,
Anonimo

Rolly

Oct 24, 2005, 4:08 AM

Post #2 of 11 (1047 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Making Sauerkraut in Mexico

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I make cole slaw often and have never been sick from it. I eat unwashed lettuce without bad things happening to me. I really think this whole thing about unsafe veggies in Mexico is very overblown.

In 5½ years living in Mexico, I have been sick from food 3 times. Twice from cooked food I ate out, and once from my own deviled eggs that sat in the fridge too many days.

Rolly Pirate

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(This post was edited by Rolly on Oct 24, 2005, 6:01 AM)

thriftqueen

Oct 25, 2005, 4:48 PM

Post #3 of 11 (1016 views)

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Re: [Rolly] Making Sauerkraut in Mexico

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I agree with Rolly. The need for disinfecting, I feel is overblown. We've lived in Mexico for 8 years and have never used the iodine wash. Just a good washing with agua purificado is how I run my kitchen. As a fellow Americano recently pointed out much of the produce especially the lettuces are imported from the USA. Today I bought lettuce, cauliflower, Gala apples all imported. Have seen in the news the state of California is short of farm workers due to many of the farm workers now working in home construction which pays more. Anionimo, I found and tried a recipe for a kruat, macaroni, weiner salad. Sounds strange but it makes a good salad and something different. Ginger

Anonimo

Oct 25, 2005, 5:26 PM

Post #4 of 11 (1007 views)

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Re: [thriftqueen] Making Sauerkraut in Mexico

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What's the advantage of buying American produce in Mexico? It's shipped in, probably more expensive, and undoubtedly not as fresh as locally grown produce.
Rarely have I had produce as fresh and tasty as that which we buy here in the Pátzcuaro mercado. And it's cheap, too. Our neighbors from Morelia, who stay next door on weekends, say that the produce here is half the price of that in Morelia. Last year, we shopped at the Mercado Indepencia in Morelia, and we thought that was a great bargain.

(I will admit, though I don't really know the origin of the produce here nor in the Morelia mercados.)

Saludos,
Anonimo

MazDee

Oct 25, 2005, 11:00 PM

Post #5 of 11 (990 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Making Sauerkraut in Mexico

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And what about the fact that in the States, we constantly bought produce from Mexico? I sure didn't wash the (Mexican) tomatoes there like I do here. In fact I NEVER thought of using the Microdyne there. I am rethinking this whole thing. Doesn't make sense. Perhaps listening to stuff that has been around for 50 years has biased us? Dee

Anonimo

Oct 26, 2005, 4:02 AM

Post #6 of 11 (990 views)

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Re: [MazDee] Making Sauerkraut in Mexico

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I have to say that having experienced "La Turistas" on several past occasions, undoubtedly contracted from a variety of sources, I tend to be careful with our own food preparation. So I wash, disinfect and peel when appropriate. I don't accept fruit or vegetable samples from mercado vendors. But I don't insist on operating room conditions in our kitchen. <LOL>

Saludos,
Anonimo

thriftqueen

Oct 27, 2005, 4:16 PM

Post #7 of 11 (955 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Making Sauerkraut in Mexico

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What's the advantage of buying American produce in Mexico? It's shipped in, probably more expensive, and undoubtedly not as fresh as locally grown produce.

Hey, I live in Sonora and don't always have a choice of where the produce is from. I suspect that even some of the produce you buy is imported. As you are shopping watch the clerks in the produce area and the boxes they are stocking from. That is always informative. Even the lettuce we are offered has plastic covers with California labels. If one travels northern Sonora they will see rows of hot houses raising hydroponic tomatoes. Thanks to NAFTA the produce is shuffled back and forth. Go figure. In the meat areas of various small and large carnecerias we see boxes marked with US Farmland labels as well as Colorado beef labels. Interesting, we can't always determine where our food originates nor the prices we pay. After NAFTA geared up we have noticed an aligning of prices between our two countries.

MariaLund

Oct 30, 2005, 9:05 AM

Post #8 of 11 (916 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Making Sauerkraut in Mexico

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I guess the saurekraut would rot if you added the wash - it rots from iodinized salt, so make sure to use the sea salt - no iodine. And have a good kraut.
Vivere non est necesse, navigare necesse est!

dolores57

Nov 8, 2005, 5:21 PM

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Re: [MariaLund] Making Sauerkraut in Mexico

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Well Is that it?? I thought you guys were going to talk about making Sauerkraut! Maybe post a recipe. I just heard on the news that they are testing sauerkraut as a possible treatment for bird flu. Apparently they gave some to chickens and tested them and they had no more bird flu. Anyway I love homemade kraut and would love to know how to make it Because it is fermented it is very good for lots of stuff including digestive problems. d

MariaLund

Nov 8, 2005, 8:46 PM

Post #10 of 11 (873 views)

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Re: [dolores57] Making Sauerkraut in Mexico

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All right. A very thorough recipe for making sauerkraut and pickling cucumbers can be found at http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5342.html.

I would add to it: use very young cabbage for sauerkraut if you want to eat it raw - it will be more delicate. If you want to cook it, for example with bratwurst and beer, use darker, older cabbage.

My family recipe asks for mixing shredded cabbage (before packing it) with shredded carrots (about 100 g would suffice for 5 pounds of cabbage), shredded apples (also 100 g), thinly sliced onion (one large), green dill (I add a whole bunch - I love dill taste and aroma in cabbage), a laur leaf, some black pepper and some aromatic pepper (whichever you like). Those additions greatly improve the taste of cabbage.

And, BTW, if you are into experimenting and have too many apples, try to substitute apples for cabbage - making saur apples. In Poland and Germany we also pickle various vegetables the same way as cucumbers: mostly cauliflower. Taste great and good for you - and if it cures bird flu so much better. Remember to pack this sauerkraut very diligently, to free the juice. Have fun.
Vivere non est necesse, navigare necesse est!

MazDee

Nov 8, 2005, 10:49 PM

Post #11 of 11 (870 views)

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Re: [MariaLund] Making Sauerkraut in Mexico

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I have been meaning to look up my old recipe for saurkraut (maybe from the 60s?) for Anonimo, but your link shows what to do, Maria. But for the heck of it here is what I wrote down when I made it so long ago when we had a big garden. And I used red cabbage which I thought was cool. We never canned it, just ate it from the crock and then refrigerated the rest for later. I think it keeps almost forever.

Saurkraut: Discard outer leaves of cabbages. Cut in quarters, remove cores and shred. Weigh cabbage. For each 5 pounds, add 2 TBS kosher or pickling salt. Mix. Pack into crock or bowl that has been scalded with boiling water. Pack tight and leave at least 5 inches at top. Juice should cover. If not, add brine (1 1/2 TBSP salt to 1 quart water, boiled and cooled) Fill a plastic garbage bag with water (my recipe says brine, but why?) and put it on top to keep out the air. Cover over with plastic wrap and a towel. At 75F it takes 3 weeks, at 70F 4 weeks, etc. I am sorry that I can't translate that to centigrade. We Americans are still in a system that defies the rest of the world, and I am still learning my oven!