Fermented foods had always had their place in the nutrition habits of different cultures around the word – from Kimchi in Korea, through Kefir in Russia to Germany’s Sauerkraut.
But the trend to go for fermented foods seems stronger nowadays than ever, as recent discoveries prove the consumption of pickled foods to improve the digestion and gut flora, while the origin of many modern diseases is linked to bad gut health.
Natural fermentation of foods has been shown to preserve the nutrients and the process of fermentation to produce beneficial enzymes, vitamins, Omega 3 fatty acids and various stains of probiotics.
It is true that excessive consumption of sauerkraut may lead to bloating, but when consumed in moderation it is a source of essential vitamins, minerals, fiber and probiotics.
Some researches found the sauerkraut to reduce the growth of cancer cells and infection spreading, and it has been used for centuries in Europe to treat stomach ulcers, while common folks suggest it is also a good cure for hangovers.
The name of the German fermented wonder Sauerkraut translates literally from German as “sour cabbage”, when comes to the etymology Germans were not very creative, but the fermentation process they have mastered to perfection.
Sauerkraut – try it!
And while on mainly the Balkans and Turkey, pickled cabbage is left to ferment as whole cabbageheads, Germans finely shred the cabbage before placing it in large jars to ferment for couple of weeks. The German fermented cabbage is well known around the world and tourists, visiting the country, would not miss the chance to taste German beer and sausages and original raw German sauerkraut.
Apparently, the first time the English readers got to hear about sauerkraut was in 1633, when in his The diet of the diseased, James Hart introduced the healthy benefits of its consumption and described the German tradition:”They pickle it [cabbage] up in all high Germany, with salt and barberies, and so keep it all the year, being commonly the first dish you have served in at table, which they call their sawerkrant.”
The next written reference comes 200 years later, to again emphasize the healthy benefits of sauerkraut, from Charles Lamb’s popular Essays of Elia, where the English writer referred to a “German empiric, who…prescribed a copious diet of sauer-kraut.”
In the last century, when British media tend to excessively represent the image of the typical German consuming mainly wurst (German sausage) and sauerkraut, The Times called for the stereotype’s break in its December, 1973 issue: “The stereotypes of the German as a man ….. eating vast quantities of sausage and sauerkraut..should really be discarded. After all, the French eat more sauerkraut. “
Yet 40 years later, without exact data which nation consumes most pickled cabbage, the wurst and the sauerkraut are still considered to be as typically German as ever.
