Meaning "sour cabbage," in German, it is shredded and pickled cabbage.

white cabbage cut finely, salted and fermented in its own liquid.

Sauerkraut is finely sliced white cabbage fermented by various lactic acid bacteria including Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus. It has good keeping qualities and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid that forms when bacteria ferment the sugars in the fresh cabbage.