"Mmmmmmm, Sauerkraut"
Posted on 09/13/2006 10:50:12 AM PDT by lizol
Taste of the Ukraine: Classic sauerkraut dish is simmered in culture
By Mat Schaffer
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
When Tania Vitvitsky is making bigos, you smell it as soon as you walk through the front door. This classic sauerkraut and pork stew announces itself with a distinctive pungent aroma that portends its bold, tart flavors.
“I grew up eating Ukrainian food,” said Vitvitsky, executive director of Sabre Foundation, a Cambridge-based organization that distributes donated books to developing countries. “But I warn you, this is a cross-cultural dish, and some people consider it Polish. My parents are from a part of Ukraine that was under all kinds of occupations - Austrian, Polish, Russian and German. A lot of the food comes from many different cultures.”
Born in a displaced person’s camp in Austria after World War II, Vitvitsky, along with her parents and grandmother, came to the United States when she was 4 and settled in Philadelphia. Her bigos recipe is her grandmother’s.
“In the Ukrainian diaspora, we traditionally serve this during the midnight break at weddings,” she said. “Ukrainian weddings are elaborate affairs. After you have your main meal, you dance a lot, and at midnight, there’s a whole other spread - all kinds of smaller dishes. Bigos is served there. I made it for my daughter’s wedding.”
Vitvitsky recommends you begin your bigos the day before you intend to eat it.
“It takes a couple of hours to simmer, and the taste develops overnight,” she said. “Like borscht, I believe it’s much better the next day because the flavors blend.”
There are apparently as many bigos recipes as there are Eastern European cooks.
“Some people use caraway; I don’t use caraway,” Vitvitsky said. “Some people put ketchup in it; I don’t. I like the sauerkraut in a pouch - not the can. Some people use sauerkraut and not fresh cabbage. Some people put a whole lot of meat in it; I just like it for flavoring. And I use salt pork, but you can use kielbasa or any smoked meat. You can (also) make it meatless.”
Vitvitsky’s daughter, Ksenia Olsen, a graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York City, continues the tradition.
“Of course she makes bigos,” said her proud mom. “Yesterday she made sauerkraut soup, which is another specialty of the family.”
TANIA VITVITSKY’S BIGOS
1 lb. salt pork, rind removed and discarded, meat diced
1 T. oil
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 32-oz. pouches sauerkraut, drained and rinsed
1 14.5-oz. can diced plain tomatoes with their juices
1/2 small head cabbage, coarsely chopped
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
In a large, heavy kettle, brown the diced salt pork in the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and saute, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the drained and rinsed sauerkraut. Stir to combine. Stir in the cabbage, tomatoes and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer, lower the heat and simmer for 2 to 2 hours. Salt and pepper to taste. Before serving, slowly reheat and correct the seasonings.
It is traditionally served with rye bread and kovbasa (Ukrainian) or kielbasa (Polish) smoked sausage. Mezeria (cucumber-sour cream salad) and mashed potatoes also are nice accompaniments.
Serves 4 to 6 as an entree, 8 to 10 as a side dish.
MEZERIA (CUCUMBER-SOUR CREAM SALAD)
3 large pickling cucumbers, thinly sliced
1/2 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced
3-4 T. sour cream
1 T. fresh dill, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients. Refrigerate for an hour before serving.
Serves 4 to 6 as a side dish.
OK, now I'm going for a dinner :-)
Most old-school Lithuanian households smell of this on a 24 hour basis.
Thanks for the recipe, looks like a winner.
"Mmmmmmm, Sauerkraut"
Sounds good!
(As I nibble on my peanut butter sandwich for lunch.)
Pizza...
I know the Germans and Poles love sauerkraut...guess the Ukrainians have discovered it too! Yum : D
It's all about the bigos.
oh i do not like sauerkraut... no sir i do not. i do not like it in a pot...
Eat as much as you can along with some beer and vodka, and then plan to sleep for a week (alone, cabbage and sauerkraut fermenting in your innards will create enough methane to power an electric utility).
Amen... (slurp!)
Your kraut recipe sounds like the one my neighborhood used to celebrate NY eve when I was growing up. I guess kraut on NYE is good luck for some.
The only difference I notice (I never knew the recipe used) is that they threw in some hotdogs near the end. The adults ate the pork, and the kids got the hotdogs.
My mother (German ancestry) would broil pork chops on a bed of sauerkraut. Then she would serve the pork chops with mashed potatoes and applesauce. We'd put the sauerkraut on top of the mashed potatoes. Yum!
When Tania Vitvitsky is making bigos, you smell it as soon as you walk through the front door.==
AFAIK the "bigos" is polish dish not ukranian:).
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