Every November, Babci buys 20 heads of winter cabbage and makes just about the best sauerkraut known to man. She is very particular about her kraut making process.
Here are some of her requirements:
- She has to have a special type of late picked winter cabbage
- She has a special way to shred it.
- Most important of all, it can only be made with real spring water, fresh from a mountain spring.
She claims that without real spring water, the cabbage gets brown and mushy. In case you’re not a sauerkraut tasting expert (which I’m sure you’re not), the key to a good kraut requires full fermentation of the cabbage without compromising the color or crispness of the product. She claims chlorination is evil and ruins the water and even the store bought spring water is no good.
What does this mean to me? It means that every fall, I have to go 4 wheeling in the woods to damn near the top of a mountain to get Babci her spring water. The only way to get there is a crappy mountain road that can only be navigated with an all wheel drive vehicle. Some years it’s so washed out that I question my judgment and wonder if it’ll make it out of there without a tow truck. This year we haven’t had much rain, so thankfully it wasn’t that bad.
I mean wouldn’t you want your water to come from a fern and moss covered mountainside? Although Babci did just tell me she was pulling beer cans out of our neighbor’s recycle bin, there are still some things she just won’t compromise on.
It’s actually a beautiful area called October Mountain. We even drive by James Taylor’s house to get there. For Babci, it’s worth the extra effort. There is no store bought kraut that even comes close to the quality of hers.
That is one thing I learned with my hobby obsession. Because of economies of scale, it’s not always cheaper to make your products from scratch, but sometimes, you just can’t find the quality that you’re looking for. That’s when it makes sense to do it yourself. My cheese making instructor said the same thing. He said that no store bought cheese comes close to the ones that he makes. He can tailor his cheeses especially for his palate and you just can’t get that at the local supermarket.
Do you or someone you love go to great lengths to make or procure a certain kind of product for the holidays?
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