Extra Credit Questions

[L Verge]

The source for this was a small cookbook on CW recipes put out in the 1980s. It includes instructions for preparing sauerkraut from slicing the cabbage all the way through to how long to let it ferment. That stuff was hard work! We actually have an antique kraut stomper in the kitchen at Surratt House. I doubt seriously that Mrs. Surratt ever made kraut since the German presence was just starting in Southern Maryland at her time. However, that stomper is so big and so menacing that we keep it there to show how a 19th-century woman might tame her husband -- just saying.

My grandmother was the only one at our table who liked sauerkraut, so I ate very little of it when I was a child. My father always said that it might be good if he could get the smell past his nose. One of my friends had a mother who made sauerkraut a staple in many a dinner. The first time I was at her house, she plopped a helping on my plate. I had been taught good manners, so I tackled it the way I did a lot of green, leafy veggies in those days -- I held my breath and swallowed. I had no sooner endured that helping when she said, "You must have enjoyed that, Laurie, here's some more..." No good deed goes unpunished.

Now, in my old age, I have decided that sauerkraut has some redeeming features, especially when served properly (like on top of a hot dog!). For some reason, those yucky vegetables of yesteryear (kale, collards, swiss chard, etc.) now taste better.

Eva, I have never thought of ethnic food as exotic, just more or less a symbol of individual cultures. It is amazing to me how many ethnic foods are readily available in markets today. I've decided, however, that grits are 100% better than hummus,,,