As 2026 unfolded, I enjoyed my usual New Year’s plate of sauerkraut, sausage, and mashed potatoes. And I wondered: when did sauerkraut enter my choice of delightful foods? Was sauerkraut served during my childhood and teenage years?

My siblings helped clarify that we did not have sauer-kraut during my childhood years, and not all of them enjoy a healthy serving of what has become known as a German delicacy, literally translated as “sour cabbage.” However, we lack clarity on when we may have started eating it. As immigrants, we may have eventually succumbed to the expectations and traditions of neighbors and friends.

A mysterious “event” may lend evidence to Papa and Mama adding sauerkraut to the foods eaten in the USA, which we most likely did not eat in our homeland of the Netherlands. One summer, possibly because there was an overabundance of cabbage in the garden, our parents tried their hand at making sauerkraut.

It’s quite a simple process, per my “research” using Google AI. “To make sauerkraut in a crock, you shred cabbage, mix it thoroughly with non-iodized salt (about 2% of the cabbage’s weight), pound it in the crock to release liquid, then submerge it under its own brine with weights and a lid, fermenting at room temperature for weeks until tangy. Key steps involve salting correctly, tamping down layers to create brine, keeping it submerged, and allowing natural fermentation for weeks.” Of course, Papa and Mama would not have had the “benefit” of discovering the “how-tos” via a Google search. I might add that I perceive our parents as open-minded in trying new things.

I recall the filled crock with a “lid” of plastic silo cover, a circular wooden cover, and bricks set on top in a seemingly safe place on the north side of what we referred to as the “shop.” It sat there for several weeks, and we may have occasionally sniffed around, wondering about the fermentation, which, quite frankly, had parallels to the process of making hay or corn silage in our silos.

Sadly, we never did have the opportunity to enjoy the sauerkraut. One day, the crock of saurkraut had a significant crack and clear evidence of being bumped, moved, or hit by something. I have no memory of Papa and Mama quizzing us as to what may have happened. As siblings, some confirm the making of sauerkraut in a crock one summer and the unfortunate ending.

Two possibilities have emerged. One possibility is that one of us tasked with mowing the yard accidentally bumped the crock with the lawnmower. However, no one has ever fessed up to that possibility. The second possibility is that several cows had escaped the confines of the barnyard and ran around the yard, and while we chased them back, one of the cows ran into the crock, knocking it over and cracking it. I suggest the second option as the most plausible one.

Siblings, you are welcome to add your memories and challenge my assumptions.

Meanwhile, please pass the sauerkraut and mashed potatoes.

“Eet smakelijk!”