sauer macht lustig

the old german saying sauer macht lustig literally translates into sour makes happy. that does not make much sense in english, right? it does not really make sense in german either, and i never understood why. in german we rarely distinguish between sour and acidic, so this even contributes to my confusion ...

apparently this weird saying where nobody really knows what it means derives from "sauer macht appetit" ... and if i may translate this loosely as "if you eat acidic food you will beg for more!"

yes, i totally second that!

there'd be enough for two if you follow my recipe below ... but i ate it all up myself. bring me the pot, i even want to lick every little rest out of there! and i am not even particularly hungry today.

so sour / acidic does indeed make you happy!
that dish certainly made my day :D

recipe # 5: sauerkraut roux soup (adapted from this recipe)

200 g sauerkraut
0,5 liter vegetable stock
150 g potatoes (4 really small ones)
1 bayleaf
1 juniper berry
1 tbsp of vegetable oil
1 small onion
1 tbsp of butter
1 tbsp of flour

1. put the vegetable stock, the peeled and diced potatoes, the bayleaf and the juniper berry in a pot and cook until the potatoes are tender
2. in the meantime heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a pan and fry the diced onion (if you want to add meat or saussage, you can do that here ...)
3. cut the sauerkraut a little if necessary and add it to the potatoes in the vegetable stock as soon as the potatoes are tender
4. add the fried onions as well and take out the bayleaf and the juniper berry - if you manage to find it :D
   
5. make a roux in the pan where you just fried your onion by melting one tablespoon of butter and sprinkle in one tablespoon of flour. you will get out all those delicious flavours if you use the pan from before
   
6. add the roux to the sauerkraut soup and bring to a boil
   
   
   
7. if you like your soup really sauerkrauty, save some of the juices from the krautpackage and season the finished soup with it - i like mine only mildly acidic, so i don't do that