Sauerkraut and turkey: an essential Baltimore Thanksgiving

[struggle4progress]

By Jonathan Pitts, The Baltimore Sun
5:22 p.m. EST, November 27, 2013

The workmen who built the Great Wall of China ate it for strength. Sailors on early American clipper ships consumed it for health during long voyages. ...

It's sauerkraut, that tartly tantalizing fermented-cabbage dish that long ago took its oddball place alongside gravy and sweet potatoes as a staple of Baltimore Thanksgiving dinners ...

... William Woys Weaver, author of "Sauerkraut Yankees," a book of Pennsylvania recipes and food lore, says traders from the York and Chambersburg areas brought it to Baltimore, a frequent stop.

"That tradition was written about as early as 1840," he says ...

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/baltimore-diner-blog/bs-md-sauerkraut-and-turkey-20131125,0,68357.story

[Voice for Peace]

1. sauerkraut is one of the best remedies for acid indigestion

and exceedingly nutritious.. yum

[struggle4progress]

2. "Most non-natives will balk at the notion of including kraut as part of a turkey feast. But they are

for the most part fools and their knavish opinions are clearly the product of an ill-informed and inferior worldview. After all, how is one meant to make a next-day turkey reuben if there is no leftover sauerkraut in the fridge?"
Sauerkraut for Thanksgiving

[Voice for Peace]

3. you must be from New York

or Baltimore

[struggle4progress]

4. :)

[LaydeeBug]

22. :)

[DonCoquixote]

5. Kid born in jersey here

As much as I love New Orleans, there is one subject that irks me, to the point where some of my relatives risked a night in the lock up.

In Dixie, dogs have slaw or relish, NO KRAUT. My sister went to one of the "lucky Dog" carts in New Orleans. She asked for Kraut, onyl to have the creole running it "this ain't new york!" Now normally I applaud the fiesty nature of New Orleans culture, and I stand by the idea that new orleans has some of the best food in the nation, but when it comes to Hot Dogs, they are dead wrong. Dogs need Kraut, period. And don;t hand me that Chicago buisness where they put a whole damn salad on the dog. Sorry dogs need krait, which we have on thankisgiving, since the meal we eat thw wednesday before is HotDogs, because they are simple to cook

[struggle4progress]

6. Yer doin it right

[DonCoquixote]

18. thanks

From a former hot dog vendor that always offered Kraut, and the red tomato sauce that was known as "Yankee Stadium sauce" after where it was invented. New Yorkers, you know what I mean.

[texanwitch]

7. In the south you will get a chili dog with onions.

Now I like sour kraut but not not hot dogs.

That is a regional taste not national.

The guy was right, New Orleans isn't New York.

[DonCoquixote]

17. Depends on where

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_dog_variations
http://www.seriouseats.com/2008/07/america-regional-hot-dog-styles-coneys-half-smokes-reds-whites.html

I have no problem with a Texas Chili dog (I prefer the Texan chili dog to the Michigan one myself), but if chili is not involved, you need Kraut, period. While we have all made dogs different, they are German, and made originally to be eaten with Kraut.

Now, there are thousands of variations. I grew up in Jersey, and I myself never liked the "Italian" dogs, or the deep fried "Rippers." Just because I was born in Jersey does not mean I will like something.

One good thing about Florida is that everybody brings many tastes here from their home point; you can get Chicago Dogs, Texas Dogs, Mexican style Dogs, as well as some actual Bratwurst.

Side note, any Kentucky people, do you folks actually put regular Cole Slaw on your dogs? I was told that, but when in doubt, I can check DU.

[texanwitch]

21. I have seen the hot dog shows on the food channel and other channels.

There are lots ways to have a hot dog.

I couldn't eat a hot dog with Kraut.

It is a chili dog or nothing.

It is interesting to see how many ways people do like their hot dogs.

[Cha]

8. I love sauerkraut! One of my favorite sammys

when I could still eat like that was.. pumpernickle bread warm with cream cheese and sauerkraut.

I don't eat hot dogs anymore but yeah if I did.. SK would be de rigueur!

What I learned from your link..

'The answer, historians tell us, lies in demographics.

Baltimore was a leading gateway for German immigration during the 1800s, so much so that by 1863, the year President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday, one in four of the city's residents were transplanted Germans and spoke the tongue as their first language."

To Abraham Lincoln for Today!

[MineralMan]

9. While in the USAF in Maryland, I had Thanksgiving

dinner at the home of an old high school classmate of my mother's near Baltimore. That was my first experience with sauerkraut and turkey. I liked it.

[Skidmore]

10. Sauerkraut stands alone as a food group

as far as I am concerned.

[MineralMan]

11. I include Kimchi in the mix.

Fermented cabbage is always a standout, wherever it originates.

[jmowreader]

13. There are fourteen known varieties of kimchi; only one contains cabbage

Etiquette question: is it impolite to ask the Korean-American guy who runs New Media at your shop for his mom's turnip kimchi recipe?

[MineralMan]

14. I think it's fine to ask for the recipe, but

you'll probably have to ask Mom directly, since the guy probably has no idea how she makes it. Mom will be flattered, though, I'm sure.

Fermented pickles come in all sorts of varieties, of course. I'm a big fan of daikon kimchi with plenty of peppers.

[hootinholler]

12. I thought it odd the first time I encountered this

Even though I'm from the Pittsburgh area and was raised with pork and sauerkraut on New Years.

[struggle4progress]

15. Pork and sauerkraut is a great combo, but I'd never heard of it as a New Year's tradition

I'll have to add that to the list I already know: black-eyed peas, pickled herring, ...

[hootinholler]

16. Especially over mashed 'taters

Now I have a hankering for sauerkraut thank you very much.

I know Black Eyed Peas are big in the south, but I haven't heard of pickled herring as a New Year tradition.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

19. German/Austrian

Didn't know Baltimore had this tradition!

[kcr]

20. I lived in Maryland for a few years, and remember this. It's delicious.

I forgot that wasn't the tradition everywhere when I moved. I miss it.