Kasputa or Sauerkraut soup

Today on a beautiful wintery sunny day, I decided to  phone my aunts.  My aunt in Ontario was not home, but a cheerful opening greeting from my Aunt in Manitoba meant she was ready for a chat.

When asking what her plans for the day were, she replied "I'm making soup after lunch." 
She was making Kaspusta soup or Sauerkraut soup
 and Yes, using her own Kaspusta that she had made earlier this fall.  

June 16, 2014 at 12:28 PM

To the soup she was adding potatoes, onion and rice.  "Of course" she was adding Pork Ribs to make the stock.   She was also julienne a couple of carrots, "for color". 

This conversation brought back memories of when my Mom was in hospital given birth to my youngest brother.  I hadn't realized until then how much my Dad loved this soup as we seemed to have it every day.   She laughed at this memory!

I love the flavor of the ribs when cooked slowly in the Sauerkraut and I did eat the ribs but not the soup.  In listening to my Aunt, I thought how I would love a bowl of this soup right now.

I mentioning to her the jar method of making Sauerkraut I had read on line and discussed with one of my cousins, Bernice.  My ninety year old Aunt, said she had use this method but "did not like the texture as the Sauerkraut seemed cooked instead of fermented." 

She then told me how she made her Sauerkraut.

She used a large rubbermaid container.  The strength and thickness of the container was important. I know my daughter in law's Mom makes Kimchee also in a rubbermaid container.  

Using a sauerkraut cutting board, my Aunt shreds the fresh cabbage.  It is important to get garden fresh cabbage as it supplies it's own water as it ferments.

The layers of cabbage is salted with non-iodized as she goes along.  When asked how how much salt, "no really measure".  She also adds a sliced onion and a bit of allspice. "Not a lot as difficult to get the allspice out if you add a lot".  The cabbage is "pounded" down as she goes along. 

The cabbage is also pressed down using a gallon of water which is placed on top of a plastic lid.  She laughed that things were so much easier now with plastics.  Not too sure how she does this step.  My Mom used a stoneware crock and weighted down the cabbage with stone that fit the crock perfectly. 

She did not find that there was a strong smell only when she rinsed the cabbage, although she did keep the container in the garage or granary when she lived on the farm. 

She lets the cabbage ferment for 8 to 14 days. Then she packages the Sauerkraut in ziplock bags and freezes the bags for later use. 

Today, she was using one of those frozen bags of Sauerkraut to make soup! 

This picture was taken Sept, 2015