Collard-Kraut. . . A grand experiment gone oh so bad.
Collards grow as well as dandelion in Seattle. Plus the leaves get big enough to swaddle a newborn and could probably be used to make a small boat. Well, I thought to myself, why not use this bumper crop of really old tough collards and make some sauerkraut. I even went so far as to name it "Collakraut". Oh, I was hopeful as I massaged the leaves with salt and waited for the juice to start running forth from the greens. First bit of news. . . collards don't juice up quickly or with much enthusiasm. I put the bruised leaves into a large jar and smashed them down to keep my "collakraut" anearobic. 5 days went by and it started to bubble a bit. Good sign! After two weeks I thought, hey, let's give this a wee little taste. As I opened the lide I was envisioning an entire cottage industry using fermented collards. In complete innocence I took a bite. Uuugh and double yuck! My collakraut was really nasty.
Lesson learned: there is a reason that there is not a market for collard sauerkraut and in the words of the sage cabbage, "don't mess with our magic."
Would love to hear if anyone has had luck using collards as a substitute in cabbage fermenting.
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Collard-Kraut. . .
A grand experiment gone oh so bad.
Collards grow as well as dandelion in Seattle. Plus the leaves get big enough to swaddle a newborn and could probably be used to make a small boat. Well, I thought to myself, why not use this bumper crop of really old tough collards and make some sauerkraut. I even went so far as to name it "Collakraut". Oh, I was hopeful as I massaged the leaves with salt and waited for the juice to start running forth from the greens. First bit of news. . . collards don't juice up quickly or with much enthusiasm. I put the bruised leaves into a large jar and smashed them down to keep my "collakraut" anearobic. 5 days went by and it started to bubble a bit. Good sign! After two weeks I thought, hey, let's give this a wee little taste. As I opened the lide I was envisioning an entire cottage industry using fermented collards. In complete innocence I took a bite. Uuugh and double yuck! My collakraut was really nasty.
Lesson learned: there is a reason that there is not a market for collard sauerkraut and in the words of the sage cabbage, "don't mess with our magic."
Would love to hear if anyone has had luck using collards as a substitute in cabbage fermenting.
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