As a child, I lived in Trieste with my parents, and Ragusa, Catania and Augusta were the towns in Sicily where my Sicilian relatives lived. Both Trieste (located at the head of the Gulf of Trieste in the region Friuli-Venezia Giulia) and Sicily are at the extreme ends of Italy, and as you would expect, the cuisines are very different.
I grew up with both cuisines and appreciate them both for very different reasons.
Capuzi garbi (or crauti/krauti) is sauerkraut in Triestino (the Triestine dialect) and it is a very popular ingredient in Triestine cuisine especially when mixed in Gulash (made with pork or beef), or with a lump of smoked pork, or luganighe (Triestine) – salsicce di maiale in Italian, and pork sausages for us mere mortals in the English speaking world.
When you look at a map of Italy, it is easy to see why this part of Italy has common roots with the cooking of Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and Istria.
I have German and Polish friends and they too are fond of sauerkraut, and like my relatives and friends from Trieste, they tend to overcook it; my mother also did this when she cooked capuzi garbi.
But as we know, cuisine evolves and some of us have taken on new methods of cooking traditional foods.
In my kitchen, I cook sauerkraut for about a quarter of the time as the traditional method and at times, I also like to add a little fresh cabbage to lighten the taste and to add a different texture. A little flour browned in a little oil is added to the sauerkraut towards the end of cooking, but not me, and unlike my Triestine contemporaries I also add caraway seeds, bay leaves and a dash of white wine.
The ingredients are: pork sausages, sauerkraut, bay leaves and caraway seeds. Onion, extra virgin olive oil and pepper (the sauerkraut could be sufficiently salty). Fresh cabbage and a dash of white wine are optional.
Drain the sauerkraut and squeeze out the moisture. Soften some onion in a little oil (in Trieste lard is also common and added to the oil).
Adding a little white or savoy cabbage is optional.
And with the cabbage also add the sauerkraut and the rest. A dash of white wine will keep it moist while it cooks.
Cover and cook for about 15- 20 minutes on low heat until the sausages are nearly cooked and the flavours have had a chance to meld.
Remove the sauerkraut and slightly brown the sausages – only for appearance.
A few of the other recipes from Trieste:
MARINADED FISH and a recipe for PESCE IN SAOR
IOTA (Recipe, a very thick soup from Trieste) Post 1
IOTA FROM TRIESTE, Italy is made with smoked pork, sauerkraut, borlotti beans-Post 2
Traditional Easter Sweets in Trieste in Friuli Venezia Giulia
INSALATA RUSSA (Party time – Russian salad)
APPLE STRUDEL (TRIESTE: Strucolo de pomi)
Will you inevitably become a Triestina as I became an american (of sorts)?
That canal view is stunning: noble facades, distant monumental building. What is it called?
The photo is Ponte Rosso in Trieste and it is not far from Piazza Goldoni where I lived as a Child. I do not know what you mean by your comment ‘Will you become a Triestina?” I was only thinking about this the other day… What am I? My parents are Sicilian, they lived in Trieste but caught the train to Sicily shortly before my birth and then took me back to Trieste shortly after my birth. I lived in Trieste before I came to Australia. When I visit Sicily and speak Italian they hear a Northern Italian twang….. I repeat…What am I?