Great Wall Built on Rice Wine?

I struggled with what to call this Blog entry.  “Great Wall Built on Rice Wine?” or “Sauerkraut Invented by the Chinese”.  Which one is more sensationalist? Which one is more eye catching?  I went with the Great Wall, because of the great visual, but I could easily of gone the other way.  I mean Sauerkraut?  I always thought it was German.  Wasn’t the term “kraut”, a reference to German military men (I learned this watching “Hogan’s Heroes” in the 70’s)?  Regardless, both truths are related.  Which, I guess is even more surprising.

According to the South County Spotlight, “Sauerkraut’s history stretches back two millennia, when the Chinese pickled cabbage in rice wine. According to www.sauerkraut.com, which labels sauerkraut as the world’s first “superfood,” Chinese laborers building the Great Wall in an attempt to thwart the invading Mongol hoards ate sauerkraut as standard fare; it didn’t require refrigeration and provided a nutritious, vitamin-packed food source.”

Want more on Sauerkraut?

“In fact, the benefits of sauerkraut can hardly be overstated. It contains phytochemicals created during the fermentation process that are proven to bolster the immune system. Several studies have indicated that sauerkraut, which contains compounds known as isothiocynates, works as a cancer inhibitor, and is believed to prevent cancer growth in breast, colon, lung and liver cancer cases. It is one of the few foods to contain the bacterium lactobacilli plantarum, a strain of good-for-you bacteria that aids digestion (Editor’s note: As does Chinese Rice Wine). And, perhaps most relevant to today’s topics, sauerkraut is believed by many to be an effective flu-fighting agent, both on the prevention and recovery front.

“Locally, Scappoose (Editor’s note: Scappoose is a small town in Oregon, only about 25 miles from Chinese Rice Wine, LLC’s headquarters in Portland.  Quite coincidental.) was a pickling and packaging center for Steinfeld’s, operating from 1942 until the plant was shuttered in 2001. The tradition of great sauerkraut has lived on, however, and this year’s festival installment will mark the completion of two decades since the Scappoose Community Club’s inaugural event in 1989.”

Apparently our neighbors in Scappose have been throwing a Sauerkraut festival every third Saturday in September for the past 2o years.  That would make it this Saturday, September 19th! See you there?