Pickling, or otherwise known as souring*, is a method of preserving plant raw materials using lactic acid bacteria that has been known in Poland for centuries. This cheapest and most available method, which does not require any complicated procedures, was mainly used to preserve cabbage. Preparing large supplies of this vegetable has become a common practice, especially on rural farms. In the past, helping neighbours in making sauerkraut was one of favourite activities performed together by villagers. It was customary to end the work with some snacks and joint festivity.

* According to linguists, the terms pickling and souring refer to the same process. The use of one of these terms depended on a region, time and local tradition.
Nowadays, however, some producers call the process of pickling when products (in this case cabbage) are artificially acidified, e.g. with vinegar. Still, referring to tradition, rules of the Polish language and sources, we use these two terms as synonyms in this presentation.