Raw sauerkraut... let's do this

I stumbled onto this book recently and just thumbing through it for a minute (sorry, I promise to buy it later) left an impression on me. This isn't just some earth mother's idea of a Saturday night, this is the foundation of food. This is peasant food that has roots in every corner of the globe. Though not a raw foodie in the least, it was high time I acknowledged this.

In Portland, you can find small jars of 'raw' fermented kraut and sea veggies at New Seasons or any of the food co-ops. I tried a couple and loved them; there's a slight, bright effervescence to balance the sour. Contrast this with canned/jarred kraut or pickles and it may be hard to go back... most industrial food companies have outsourced even this to India, and the product is dead and left without many nutrients it could have had. This pickling travesty is a topic for another post on another day.

Being the enterprising sort, I decided this is a food exercise I should probably learn to master. We're not canning here, this is simply open air, raw fermentation in a large container. I've spent hours brewing beer, how 'effing hard could this be? Until I'm able to pry that old antique crock away from my mom, I had to do with a large Anchor Hocking jar (2-4 gallons?) sans lid.

Here's a list of what I used, based on suggestions found in the book and on various websites. Note that I went 'red' on this batch, with plenty of non-cabbage accouterments.

3 heads OG green cabbage - cored, rough shred
2 heads OG red cabbage - cored, rough shred
1 OG red onion - diced
2 heads OG garlic - sliced
3 large carrots - coarsely grated
2 large OG red beets - coarsely grated
8-10 tbsp Real Salt (mined mineral rich salt)
2 tbsp cumin seed - toasted
2 tbsp caraway seed - toasted
1-2 tbsp celery seed
3/4 cup juniper berries - crushed
1 tbsp cracked pepper
1-2 qts filtered water

Mix the ingredients in a large bowl and place in the crock a little at a time, packing and macerating as you go. I read somewhere that a sanitized wooden baseball bat works well, but hell, I've got these two awesome fists of fury at my disposal. And they're FREE.

Once the cabbage mix is salted, it starts letting go of its water in a big way. Place a plate over the pressed mass with some kind of weight (and keep the whole thing covered with a t-shirt or towel). I used an old glass juice container filled with water, but it probably needs to be heavier. Whatever the means, the idea is to keep the kraut well under the fluid in its anaerobic state, fermenting away and creating a probiotic wonderfood while you skim the occasional slime off the surface. Yum!

So it sits in my cool, dark basement-- an optimal and unobtrusive spot-- until it's ready (days? weeks? how will I know?). Until then I'll ponder my sausage choices for the kraut (read: any) and post more pictures as this rosy baby comes alive...

**Update 7/25/09 1:52pm- Think I forgot to mention 2 tbsp of white miso paste was added to kickstart the probiotic process.