Wednesday, March 4, 2009

How to make sauerkraut, Ukrainian style

Pasha showing Kim how to make kraut
kneading the salt into the cabbage

For weeks my friend Pasha has been patiently explaining how to make several different Ukrainian national dishes. We always buy Pasha’s homemade sauerkraut. It is absolutely delicious! Have you ever tried homemade? There isn’t any comparison to the kraut sold in a can.
Just yesterday Pasha offered to show me how to make kraut (in Ukrainian it is called kvashena kapusta). She told me, “All you need is 5 kilos of cabbage and salt….” Today, she reminded me that we were going to make kraut. So, I bought 2 large heads of cabbage and shredded them. Then as she promised Pasha came up to our apartment and showed me what to do next. I was so excited that she finally came to our place! We had informally invited her several times to our place, and now…success! She began by kneading a HEAPING tablespoon of salt into the cabbage and then the 3 of us, (yes, even Jerry helped…he’s wonderful!) packed it into a 3 liter jar. She said that the juice resulting from this process is very good for digestion. I couldn’t believe that we got all 10lbs of cabbage into the 3 liter jar.
Now we’ll need to let it stand on the counter for at least 48 hours. She said that we need to bring her some on Friday so that she can taste it to see if we are ready for the next step. We will see what that next step is.
I am so excited that our friendship with Pasha has developed to the point that she could come to our place. We look forward to the day when we can meet her husband Ivan. He is still sick. It is difficult to keep asking about his health, instead we just continue to pray for him. Pasha told me that he is feeling pretty down because of his health and the restrictions that it puts on him.
~kim

3 comments:

Donnie and Blythe said...

You guys are so good at building relationships! I'm excited about this opportunity, but glad I'm not there to smell it. : )

Mindy said...

Your sauerkraut lesson looks fun. I love learning how to make new things. Hope you continue to see growth in your relationships.

Jerry and Kim said...

It is exciting and fun to learning how to makenew things...surprisingly, it doesn't smell! but, we are still only 1 1/2 days into it! ~kim