The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1886-04-15

~
Pm ils fstatslg chro1lsls-rsi.snpa.
''6aaerkraut, cents 3 pound, . wa
the reading On 3 sign In flont Of q gre
cefy store on Penn avenue this morn
Ing. Then az several saloons were
eeen piaosrds announcing that there
would Be ''sauerkraut lunchesn there
to-day. These things 20 70 show that
esuefkfaut has been made one Of the
essential articles o. food "a this city.
Nor Is u confined to the Germans
alone. Irish and American saloon
keepefB offer Il as an extra inducement
% customers. Germany Il the Origi-
nal home Of the dish dslecfabie 10 the
German palate, and the Germans are
responsible for its introduction into
this country. Down among the Penn
sylvania Dutch IN Berks county saler-
knut is, during the winter, the staple
food Of the farmers and tradesmen,
and there IL no place In the country
where it d made better or eaten more
regularly. Many people do nOt know
how Eauefkraut - made. Near the
city n large factory where it Is turn
ed out By hundreds Of barrels, but out
amOng the farmers themethOd Of max
ing Il Is very different from that you
ZEE In the factory.
About Halloween week, the farmer
selects from his crop Of cabbages as
many Of the hrmest heads IS viii suf-
nee for his family's use. In every
community there are one or two
Observation-Disclosures, which are hired
out to whoever wants them. The
cutters are made Of long board with
several sharp knives set IN the middle.
A box that will hold one or two heads
Of cabbage is made 70 fit over a knife
board, and this Is pushed back and
forth over the knives, which shave of
the cabbage In thin, almost tTanspar-
ent slices. The vessel which receives
these shayings Is called q "ste1ner"
II IL simply q high, narrow barrel.
After the bottom Of the STEINER" is
covered with a layer Of about four
inches Of the cut cabbage coarse salt
Is sprlnkled all over Il, and then with
a heavy wooden stamper-''shtembl
a. it f. called ln Berks County Dutch
the mass Is vigorously pounded, and
the salt is worked through Il. The
alternate layers OF cabbage and salt
and the pounding 20 on until the
barrel is full 10 within six inches OF
the top, when il is covered over with
boards, and weights are placed on Il
to sOak the pickle out OF It. Il Is
ready for use within six weeks after Il
q made.
II Il said that In some Of the farm
ing districts Of this State, instead of
using the wooden FOUNDER to pack Il
In the barrel, some one Of the family
gets into II and tramps Il down with
the bare feet, generally laying q cloth
ever the cabbage. or course the feet
are first given q good bath. This
method Of stamping Is not generally
used, though il Is certainly sometimes
done. They cook it generally with a
good sized piece Of fresh pork as fat as
the pork can be had. Sometimes
they add TO IL while boiling q quanti-
~ Of potatoes cut In quarters, but
they generally have with IL a great
dish Of mashed potatoes, and Of tllls
Of sauerkraut, "speck" and
potatoes In enormous quantities are
daily In the farm houses Of
Berks county.
In some places sauerkraut parties
are held, at which there IL q feast Of
3auerkraut and after that dancing.
IL fast becoming a popular
dish. and can now be found on the
Dill Of fare at frst-class hotels and