By David Fleet
Editor
Goodrich— It’s just the right mix of a Scandinavian-Danish father and a German mother that produced a sauerkraut recipe that still today infuses the early autumn air with fermenting cabbage in the village.
Dale Springsteen, now 88 years old and a Hadley Township resident said his father Frank Springsteen taught Goodrich resident Pete Morey the fine art of making sauerkraut in 1957.
The Springsteen family moved to the Goodrich area about 75 years ago bringing the family sauerkraut recipe with them.
Morey (self proclaimed Kraut King) keeps the fine art of ‘kraut’ production alive each August when about 20 friends and neighbors gather at his home for the annual event. About 1,000 pounds of cabbage was purchased from Knickerbocker Farms in Genesee Township which, after slicing, salting and curing, produces the sauerkraut.
Springsteen watched over the process in Morey’s garage on Saturday.
“My parents always made sauerkraut and we’d eat it rather than ice cream after dinner,” said Springsteen, a 1953 Goodrich High School graduate. “It’s a healthy food. The only difference now is they add garlic.”
Springsteen says about a gallon of sauerkraut, three pounds sausage, brown sugar, mayonnaise and apple cider. Cook it for eight hours in a crock pot.
“You’ve never had it so good,” he said.
It takes about 21 days following the active process of mixing the blend of salt and cabbage in large tubs.