 ADDITIONAL RECIPES FROM “FARMERS REJOICE,” EARLY AMERICAN LIFE OCTOBER 2011
Chow Chow
One peck of green tomatoes, half peck string beans, quarter peck of small white onions, quarter pint green peppers mixed, two large heads cabbage, four table-spoons white mustard seed, two of white or black cloves, two of celery seed. Two of allspice, one small box yellow mustard, pound brown sugar, ounce of turmeric; slice the tomatoes and let stand over night in brine that will bear an egg; then squeeze out brine, chop cabbage, onions and beans, chop tomatoes separately, mix with the spices, put all in porcelain kettle, cover with vinegar, and boil three hours.
From Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping: Compiled from Original Recipes, 1877.
NOTE: This is modern version of what would have been done in early America (prior to the cultivation of green peppers). Vinegar is not a long-term preservative, so for safety, reduce the quantities, keep refrigerated, and consume within a week. Otherwise, process the chow chow in a water-bath canner following the manufacturer’s instructions.
To Make Sauerkraut
In the fall, after we have had two or three freezing nights, collect up as many solid heads of cabbage as you wish to preserve, salt up (say fifty for a family of 6 or 8 persons), take off all the green and imperfect leaves, cut each head lengthwise through the heart, and cut that clean out. A cabbage knife should now be procured on which the cabbage should be cut fine, and a strong cedar or other barrel, previously well soaked and cleaned at hand, the bottom of which to be laid over with cabbage leaves; fine salt now to be well mixed with portions of the cabbage in the proportion of a pint of the former to a heaped bushel of the latter, and these gradually packed in the barrel by gently stamping with a suitable wooden rammer. When the barrel is nearly full, it should be placed in a cool dry cellar, on boards, the bottom secured from pressing out; a barrel head or pieces of boards laid on the top of the cabbage; and a heavy weight laid on them. In a week or ten days the pickle should cover the cabbage, or a weak brine must be prepared and poured over, when fermentation will commence; and from this time to the end of the season, once a week, the froth should be skimmed off, and the boards, weight, and sides of the barrel, cleanly washed. At the end of two weeks it will be fit to cook; and as much of its savoury and salutary quality depends on this, I will describe the manner I do it. I take up at a time as much as will make two messes (as warming up what is left the first day is no injury to it); put it in a tin boiler with a piece of fat pork; and, if I have it, a spoonful or two of goose or other dripping, and just sufficient water to boil nearly dry over a smart fire in 3 hours. … Sour krout should be all used before the approach of warm weather, as the quantity of salt here recommended is too small to preserve it.
From Sauerkraut Yankees: Pennsylvania Dutch Foods & Foodways (second edition), by William Woys Weaver (Stackpole Books, 2002)
Gumbis
This is a very old Pennsylvania German recipe that traces its ancestry back to medieval Switzerland.
1 small cabbage, about 1 1/2 pounds, sliced and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
3 medium white onions, peeled and thinly sliced
3 granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1 cup leftover meat
Meat stock or water
In a large pan melt the butter and sauté the cabbage until it begins to wilt. Remove from heat. In a deep 3-quart lidded casserole place a layer of cabbage, some of the meat, a layer of onions, more meat, another layer of cabbage, with more meat, and then a layer of apples. Continue to layer in the same order, ending with a layer of cabbage on the top. Fill the casserole with either meat stock or water so the cabbage on top is almost submerged, and cover the casserole tightly. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 2 hours until the fragrance of the dish is evident. Serves 6 to 8 as a main course.
NOTE: This recipe also works in a slow cooker.
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