How To Make Charlie’s Favorite Sauerkraut

Get a head of cabbage, preferably organic.
Cut the cabbage in half lengthwise, then cut the stem part out and compost it.
Cut the leaves into small slices, 1-2 mm wide, and pack them into a jar – a two-liter Le Parfait fliptop jar tends to work well for this step. Charlie liked the longer leaves; however, if you have a Microplane box, they can be shredded into really tiny pieces. As the leaves leach water, they take up less volume, so a one-liter jar will work for the fermentation stages.
Sprinkle 50g of sea salt on top, then put a lid on the jar and shake it to distribute the salt.
Wait for a day or two, shaking the jar daily and venting any gasses that have built up.
Fill the jar with water, then drain the water (and excess salt) out. Do this three times.
Add a tablespoon of caraway seeds to the jar.
Add enough water to the jar so that the water reaches 1-2 centimeters below the top of the cabbage leaves.
Once a day, for maybe a month or two, press down with a potato masher so that the leaves go below the level of the water. As the liquid comes out of the leaves and they soften, the leaves wil naturally fall below the level of the water; this makes things easier.
Taste regularly, until it is to your liking, or until Charlie gets back from his epic trip.

Andrew Samtoy