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Sauerkraut, American Style

A sauerkraut dish braised in butter, thickened with grated potato, and flavored with apples, cayenne pepper, and sea salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,305 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Sauerkraut, American Style

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the sauerkraut

  1. Wash the sauerkraut in cold water to remove the bad odor and drain it.

  2. Press the sauerkraut dry and braise it in butter for two hours, moistening occasionally with consomme.

Finish and serve

  1. Thicken the sauerkraut with grated raw potato.

  2. Add the chopped sour apples and season with cayenne pepper and coarse sea salt.

  3. Serve in a deep vegetable dish.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Butter + potatotop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Potato + appletop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together603 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  4. Butter + appletop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,706 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Apple + peppertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,026 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sauerkraut
Forms the base of the dish and provides its sour, tangy flavor.
Butter
Adds richness and fat while the sauerkraut braises slowly.
Raw potato
Grated into the sauerkraut to thicken it as it cooks.
Sour apples
Add tartness and a fresh, fruity sweetness that balances the sauerkraut.
Consomme
Adds moisture and savory flavor while the sauerkraut braises.

The step that matters

Braising the sauerkraut. Sauerkraut pressed dry and braised slowly in butter needs enough added liquid to avoid scorching, while moistening it gently keeps it tender and prevents it from drying out or sticking to the pan during the long cooking time.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, potato, pepper):

  1. Lemonfits better
  2. Mangofits better
  3. Limefits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, potato, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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