Special thanks to Anke Perez for sharing her family’s recipes with our cooking class and teaching us how to cook these traditional German dishes.

Apfelrotkohl | German Red Cabbage with Apples
Commonly served in Fall and Winter as a side dish.
When refrigeration was a problem, vegetables were harvested and either pickled or put into cold cellars to preserve them over the cold months. Spices were expensive, so were reserved for special occasions.
The spicing is a little like Lebkuchen (Gingerbread) spicing. Often the sauce of the roast was thickened with stale gingerbread, so the similarly seasoned dishes went well together. Nothing was ever wasted.
This is my family’s Christmas side dish, served with dumplings and a apple/rosemary stuffed goose.
Tip: count how many cloves you put into the pot, makes removing all of them before serving easier....if you can find them at all. (The guest, that bites into one of them, will let you know)
Cooking takes about 45 min. The cabbage should still be a little firm, not totally soft and mushy.
Ingredients
1 red cabbage
1 sour apple, (like Granny Smith)
1 yellow or white onion
1 large pat of butter, margarine or bacon grease dash of red wine or apple juice
Cinnamon
1 Bay leaf
2-3 Cloves
Nutmeg, ground
Salt & pepper to taste
Apple cider vinegar (added at the end of cooking)
Preparation
1. Peel apple, cut into quarters and core, then slice thinly
2. Peel onion, cut in half and slice thinly
3. Cut the cabbage into quarters, remove the core and slice thinly

4. Melt the fat in a pot
5. When the fat has melted, add all the ingredients, except vinegar and
stir to combine
6. Cook on medium heat, stir frequently to prevent burning
7. During cooking, the color of the cabbage will change from dark purple
to a washed out purple.
8. At the end of the cooking time, add a dash of vinegar and watch the
color return to its deep purple, and to add a bit of tartness
9. Remove the spices that are whole
10. Serve as a side dish
Tip: freezes very well. Just defrost, heat and serve.

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