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Vegetables from Poland

Kapusta kiszona (Polish sauerkraut)kapusta kiszona

Kapusta kiszona is white cabbage shredded into thin strips, layered into a scalded barrel with salt, carrot and seeds such as dill and caraway, and trodden or pounded until it gives up its juice. It ferments for about a week in a warm room, with a stick pushed through to let the gas out, and then ripens slowly in a cool cellar under a lid and a stone. Most of 14 Polish market samples measured pH 3.12–3.77.

Fully documentedVegetables7 days – 10 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceHousehold barrel method with no fixed amounts; the salt level is the 2.5 % (w/w) a 2020 Kraków study used, which it describes as the level used by Polish producers.
White cabbageOuter leaves and cores removed; shredded into strips 1–3 mm thick (Suwałki) or about 0.3–0.6 cm[gov-suwalki][gov-kruszewo]
Salt2.5 % of the cabbage weightThe level used by Polish producers, according to a 2020 study; traditionally a handful per layer[satora2020][gov-bobrowa]
Grated carrotMixed in, or added after souring in the Zachodniopomorskie product[gov-suwalki][gov-beczki]
Dill seed, a few mustard seeds and caraway[gov-suwalki]
Horseradish leavesLaid on the bottom of the barrel, which is rubbed with onion[gov-suwalki]
Whole apples (optional)Sound apples laid between the layers[gov-beczki]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 7 days – 10 days

Start
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What changes: Cored white cabbage is shredded into long, thin strips

Step 1 of 4
Trim, core and shred the cabbage
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
L. mesenteroides
Latilactobacillus
Lactiplantibacillus
Levilactobacillus
Lactic acid bacteria

Strips are about 1–3 mm thick in the Suwałki product; in the Kruszewo product they are up to 20 cm long, about 0.6 cm thick when cut by hand and 0.3–0.4 cm with a shredder. Output: long, thin cabbage strips.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Kapusta kiszona is white cabbage shredded into thin strips, layered into a scalded barrel with salt, carrot and seeds such as dill and caraway, and trodden or pounded until it gives up its juice. It ferments for about a week in a warm room, with a stick pushed through to let the gas out, and then ripens slowly in a cool cellar under a lid and a stone. Most of 14 Polish market samples measured pH 3.12–3.77. Made in 4 steps over 7 days – 10 days. The longest step, ferment in a warm room and let the gas out, takes 7–10 days (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development…) and runs at 15–20 °C (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development…). Salt is 2.5 % (Satora P 2020). Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Latilactobacillus, Lactiplantibacillus, Levilactobacillus, Secundilactobacillus (S. malefermentans in most samples) and Pediococcus do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step7–10 daysReported[gov-suwalki][gov-kruszewo][gov-beczki]Ferment in a warm room and let the gas out
Temperature15–20 °CReported[gov-bobrowa][satora2020]Ferment in a warm room and let the gas out
Salt2.5 %Reported[satora2020]Layer with salt and seasonings in a scalded barrel and tread down
AciditypH 3.1–3.8Measured[choinska2025]Cover with a lid and stone and move to a cool cellar

What makes this one different

The Suwałki product is layered with dill seed, a few mustard seeds, caraway and grated carrot. In the Zachodniopomorskie product only salt is used and grated carrot is added after souring. In Kruszewo small whole heads go at the bottom of the barrel, and in the Narew valley full barrels were once kept in the river until summer.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Whole heads in the barrelSmall, hard whole heads laid at the bottom; eaten cut into large pieces straight from the barrel (Kruszewo).
  • TrzydniówkaFreshly soured 3-day kraut, winey-sweet and only lightly sour.

Safety

Most market samples reached pH 3.12–3.77. In a 2025 survey of the Polish market, five of 14 sauerkraut samples exceeded an estimated upper toxicity limit for biogenic amines, mainly putrescine. The cabbage should stay covered by its juice to stop rot and mould, with brine added if needed.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Cabbage appears in the accounts of 14th-century Polish royal and ducal courts. Fermenting it was a social event, with people gathering in one house to shred and tread it together; a superstition held that it should be done by the end of October, because kraut made in November after All Souls' Day could spoil. Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa's 1885 cookbook scalds each layer with boiling water and moves the barrel to the cellar after 8–10 days.

  1. [choinska2025] Choińska R., Piasecka-Jóźwiak K., Świder O., Żak-Kułakowicz A., Włodarczyk K., Załuski J. 2025, Microbiota and quality indexes of commercial sauerkraut and fermented cucumbers, Environmental Microbiology Reports 17(6):e70250paper
  2. [satora2020] Satora P., Skotniczny M., Strnad S., Ženišová K. 2020, Yeast microbiota during sauerkraut fermentation and its characteristics, International Journal of Molecular Sciences 21(24):9699paper
  3. [gov-suwalki] Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Poland), list of traditional products, Kapusta kiszona z Suwalszczyzny (Podlaskie, entered 2019-11-27)gov
  4. [gov-kruszewo] Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Poland), list of traditional products, Kruszewska kapusta kiszona (Podlaskie, entered 2007-06-11)gov
  5. [gov-beczki] Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Poland), list of traditional products, Kapusta kiszona z beczki (Zachodniopomorskie, entered 2008-04-02), quoting K. Pyszkowska, Gospodarstwo domowe (1974)gov
  6. [gov-bobrowa] Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Poland), list of traditional products, Kapusta kiszona z Bobrowy (Opolskie, entered 2007-09-04), quoting L. Ćwierczakiewiczowa's cookbook (1885)gov