Sauerkraut - A Containter Of Fermented Circumstances

This publication looks at the traditional ritual of home fermentation of Sauerkraut in the Black Forest, in southwest Germany, and uncovers stories about the bio-political human and more than human relationships of microbes and women. In this particular ritual of fermentation, intersectional struggles of care labour and imposed gender roles provoke broken relationships between the female body and the microbial body. Despite the growing research interest in fermentation from different angles and professions, there has not been a specific case study in the Black Forest, that explores Sauerkraut as a traditional fermentation ritual, focusing mainly on the stories of working-class female care labour. Through ethnographic research I sit with, observe and talk to these female bodies and listen to their experiences of the ritual practice, followed by memories, struggles, and desires while making Sauerkraut.