Kramer, sauerkraut from North Holland

Who's behind it

In 1890 Gert Kramer began preserving white cabbage in a shed behind his house in Zuid-Scharwoude, because deliveries from others came too late. From that shed grew the largest sauerkraut producer in the Netherlands. An estimated 90 per cent of the sauerkraut that appears on Dutch tables comes from this facility. The business still sits on the same spot on Voorburggracht and is now in its fifth generation.

The Langedijk and the Kop van Noord-Holland have been the country's cabbage-growing region for over a century, the cabbage barn of Europe. Kramer sources white cabbage from its own fields and from growers in the immediate area. On a peak day around 100 tonnes of cabbage go through the facility. A single head easily weighs around 8 kilos.

How it's made

Sauerkraut is one of the oldest ferments there is, and Kramer keeps the process deliberately simple. The cabbage is cleaned, sliced and salted. Then the lactic acid bacteria that occur naturally on the leaves slowly convert the sugars into lactic acid. Only cabbage and salt go in. In the sealed tuns the first fermentation takes about three weeks.

Two kilos of white cabbage yield one kilo of sauerkraut. A hectare produces around 100,000 kilos of cabbage. Much of the sauerkraut stays unpasteurised, so the living cultures remain. Kramer has been packing in bags since 1963. Besides the plain version there's a sauerkraut prepared with wine, and for the kitchen a raw pail you finish yourself.

In your kitchen

With the raw 10-kilo base you're in charge: you decide how far you braise it, with which wine, which fat and which spice, and how much tang you keep.

The living, unpasteurised sauerkraut also makes a fresh, raw garnish with clean acidity, good with game, smoked fish and vegetable mains. On the menu you can name Zuid-Scharwoude and the year 1890.