The Sauerkraut Argument (subtitled: Expectations are Everything)

[Holly IN]

For us:

 

We eat sauerkraut and keilbasa as the main meal with a salad. It is not even an ingredient in our house. It is part of the main meal. :D

 

Holly

[Tarreymere]

I make pork roast and kraut often as it is a favorite here and I make it exactly the way you did. Anyone who knows kraut knows that the RIGHT way to eat it is with mashed potatoes!

 

 

We also like it on hot dogs and with kielbasi. :D

[*********]

Because really... I do not care if you are a guest or you are everday family... when someone cooks for you, be gracious, and when they go out of their way to make something special for you, be extra gracious.

 

THIS.

 

I don't understand why my dh (who I am NOT bashing, and who is a fantastic man in MANY ways) doesn't get this.

 

The food didn't cook itself. I don't care if it's not *exactly* what you were expecting. Unless it's truly inedible, you should be gracious and thankful.

 

I fully realize that I don't know the details of what dh does all day. But just like the bathrooms don't clean themselves, I don't have laundry fairies, and the children actually need me to *teach* them in order to learn, the food also is prepared by a real person. Me. I put time, effort, and love into it. And when it goes unappreciated, or even worse *disliked*, it makes me feel invisible and useless.

 

Ahem.

 

Rant over.

 

:tongue_smilie:

 

(And you better bet my boys are being taught these ideals.)

[GailV]

Sauerkraut is simply pickled cabbage, (sour cabbage) and is usually served w/ sausage. Where was your dh raised?

 

:iagree:

 

Most arguments I hear about it are whether it's made in a wood barrel or a crock, whether it's "live" or pasteurized. Also possibly how the cabbage is sliced before pickling.

 

But "sauerkraut" is always the pickled cabbage itself.

[Annie G]

We always made ours by sauteing onions and apples. Then throw in very rinsed sauerkraut and let it sit for a while. The apples and onions give it a very sweet flavor. And we always call it kapusta. My grandma was Polish.

 

My mom makes that! My kids and grandkids think it's the best thing ever.

[JeneralMom]

My Dad is from Central Europe so lots of 'kraut in our house. I have had it mainly as a side dish, often with a few flavourings added like chopped onions or caraway seeds. However, some dished do have cubed pork or sausages chopped up and added to the 'kraut with potatoes, onions, etc and all heated up together (and topped with sour cream).

 

Darn, now I want 'kraut.

[LarlaB]

I make pork roast and kraut often as it is a favorite here and I make it exactly the way you did. Anyone who knows kraut knows that the RIGHT way to eat it is with mashed potatoes!

 

 

We also like it on hot dogs and with kielbasi. :D

 

 

:iagree:

 

:D

 

Pork & kraut is a New Years Day tradition in my household....over MASHED potatoes...occasionally kraut is served w/ hot dogs (but usually only at Costco)

[KidsHappen]

Kraut is a condiment..lol. I've only ever had it on a dog or brat, and MAYBE at a German restaurant once.

 

:iagree: I have only ever heard of it on hot dogs and polish sausage and with saurbraten (pork roast).

[AdventureMoms]

I love sauerkraut and have had it in a number of ways, but I've never heard of your DH's dish. If someone said they wanted pork & sauerkraut they would have ended up with something like what you did. Or a pork roast with the heated up can like your mom did.

 

However I'm the only one in my house who likes 'kraut, so I get it however I want, lol.

[Just Kate]

Yuck, sauerkraut...:tongue_smilie:

 

I grew up eating (or actually "not eating" as it was my least favorite meal and my mom sometimes let me have a can of Spaghetti-Os instead :D ) a meal with sauerkraut that looked like this:

• Sauerkraut cooked in a saucepan with cut up weiners on top (yes, like cut up hot dogs without the buns!)
  
• Fried potatoes
  
• A giant pot of pinto beans
  
• Onions and cucumbers served in vinegar
  

Yuck, yuck, yuck...I can still remember that sauerkraut smell and how, upon smelling it, I would try to figure out how to get out of dinner that night. Amazingly, my very picky brother loved this meal and it was one of his favorites!

[gardening momma]

[*]Onions and cucumbers served in vinegar

Yum! We made ours with vinegar & water, cucumbers, onions & black pepper. I never ate the onions (dad did). I still make it with onions "for flavor."

[OrganicAnn]

I think your DH came from a family that had a very specific sauerkraut tradition and he didn't realize there were other ways to make sauerkraut. You should just ask his mom or an aunt for the recipe.

 

It like those sweet pickles/dill pickles debate for potato salad (tuna salad etc) whatever you grow up with is the 'right way'.

 

Also I remember my mom talking about "mild" sauerkraut vs strong? robust? I can't think of the word on the package can make a big difference in a sauerkraut dish.

[DesertDweller]

My mom made pork and saurkraut when we were growing up. She still makes it the same way today. Pork and saurkraut. No potatoes, onions or anything extra.

 

The only difference is that she will sometimes make dumplings from Bisquick to cook on top towards the end. I would never eat it growing up, but it is one of my favorite dishes today.

 

I'm sure everyone has their own variation. I've never had it with the added potatoes and such. Your dh probably only knows the way his mom made it. In his mind, he thinks that's the best and only way.

 

He really should be grateful that you even attempted it. There are a few foods my mil made when dh was growing up. They are things I don't like and have never made. Kudos to you for trying.

[GraciebytheBay]

I grew up eating sauerkraut with polska kielbasa, sauerkraut with pork chops, sauerkraut with pierogies, etc. I have never had it with anything other than a little bit of chopped apple and some brown sugar. Other vegetables?? Never.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

When my mom and grandma made sauerkraut with pork roast, there were no potatoes or carrots or anything but garlic in there.

[kristin0713]

I did not read through 7 pages of replies. I voted "ew" but i will say that pork and sauerkraut is popular with my ILs, they have it every year on New Year's Day. (apparently this is a tradition that I was unaware of until I met DH.) My MIL always makes the pork and sauerkraut together, a cheesy potato casserole on the side and no carrots.

[Guest]

I don't think the OP's dh wanted sauerkraut that included potatoes as the sauerkraut recipe. I think he was looking for a pork roast cooked with sauerkraut, potatoes, and carrots. Right?

 

Right. Like a Yankee Pot Roast type of style, but with pork roast, not beef, and with sauerkraut mixed up with the potatoes, onions and carrots.

 

You are correct. One may create a dish using sauerkraut as an ingredient, but generally when someone serves X and sauerkraut it is X on a bed of sauerkraut! And, if it helps any, I live in an area with TONS of Mennonites! They should know what the heck to do with sauerkraut!

 

If there was a certain dish your dh wanted, he really should have been more specific, or more correctly... he should have eaten what you served him, complimented your thoughtfulness and then next time asked to have that with carrots and potatoes in it.

 

Because really... I do not care if you are a guest or you are everday family... when someone cooks for you, be gracious, and when they go out of their way to make something special for you, be extra gracious.

 

He did eat it. He even ended up saying he liked it a lot, that it was good and the pork was tender and delicious. It was when he saw it in the crockpot cooking that he reacted poorly. It just wasn't what he thought we were having that night and...well, you know how it is when you have a given food in mind and have been imagining it all day and then - What? This isn't what I was thinking of!

 

He does regularly thank and compliment my cooking and prompts the kids to do the same. This was a blip of expectations. Fortunately, it did not last.

 

I make pork roast and kraut often as it is a favorite here and I make it exactly the way you did. Anyone who knows kraut knows that the RIGHT way to eat it is with mashed potatoes!

 

 

We also like it on hot dogs and with kielbasi. :D

 

Yes, I made mashed potatoes with it, and I did make steamed carrots as well. So - all the ingredients he was thinking of, but not prepared all together the way he imagined.

 

I think your DH came from a family that had a very specific sauerkraut tradition and he didn't realize there were other ways to make sauerkraut. You should just ask his mom or an aunt for the recipe.

 

It like those sweet pickles/dill pickles debate for potato salad (tuna salad etc) whatever you grow up with is the 'right way'.

 

Also I remember my mom talking about "mild" sauerkraut vs strong? robust? I can't think of the word on the package can make a big difference in a sauerkraut dish.

 

Yep. This is exactly what happened.

[gardening momma]

My great grandma used to make sauerkraut (from scratch), and she'd combine it with some sort of ring sausage (sliced & fried with the kraut, I think). I remember having it at their house, but I don't remember what she served with it. I just remember the sausage & sauerkraut. She and my great grandpa were both German. I could ask my mom if she remembers what else was served.

My mom got back to me, then I needed clarification, so it's taken a few days, but here's what she said. She said great grandma grated a raw potato into the sauerkraut before cooking it with sausage. She served it with potatoes, meat (don't know what kind--pork chops?) and a veggie on the side.