whiteMemphis wrote:
> "Brian Mailman" > wrote in message
> ...
>> whiteMemphis wrote:
>>> Hi all, has anyone heard of making sauerkraut using the whole
>>> cabbage?
>>
>>.
>>
>>> I thought this would cut out the tedious business off having to
>>> pre-cook a great heap of fresh leaves. Thanks any feedback.
>>
>> ???? What do you mean "pre-cook?" You don't "pre-cook" sauerkraut, much
>> less whole leaves.... are you sure you're talking about sauerkraut or just
>> stuffed cabbage (praakes/galubsti/holopsi)? It would be difficult to make
>> cabbage rolls from a whole cabbage (although I have heard of a whole one
>> that's been stuffed).
>>
>> When I make cabbage rolls I have always used fresh cabbage, I remove
>> as many leaves as I need, put them in boiling water til they soften so
>> they can be easily folded around the meat, otherwise, the leaves would
>> just break,

Now it's more clear what you want.

You might try freezing the cabbage. When it thaws, you can peel off the
softened leaves.

> the point of using whole sauerkrauted leaves instead of fresh
>> cabbage would be to not have to do this step as the sauerkraut would be
>> soft enough to fold around the meat as it is. I haven't tried it myself
>> as I don't know any source of whole sauerkraut (i.e. where the whole
>> cabbage has been fermented and not shredded so that whole leaves can be
>> removed) that is available to the public, but it sounds like a good idea.

I think with a whole cabbage, you'd have to take off the leaves and
brine them separately; it may take forever to brine an entire head (or
risk the centers rotting before they acidify).

I'm not familiar with such a thing. Which doesn't mean it doesn't
exist, but if it was something commonly done it would be available in
any of the Central/Eastern European cuisines or any other that does
"root cellar" preseving--or I'd've seen "reflections" of it in other
recipes using a product like that.

You might try a less formal "unstuffed cabbage" with either shredded
cabbage or sauerkraut or a combination thereof. I've got recipes on my
site (non-commercial, it's the recipe archive of my Yahoogroup)

http://www.jewishfood-list.com/recip...age_index.html
or
http://tinyurl.com/yxo452