What food is also known as "liberty cabbage"?

The food once known as “liberty cabbage” was sauerkraut. The nickname appeared in the United States during World War I, when anti-German feeling made some Americans wary of German-sounding names and businesses temporarily relabeled sauerkraut with a patriotic substitute.

Sauerkraut is finely shredded cabbage preserved through lactic-acid fermentation. Salt draws moisture from the cabbage and encourages beneficial bacteria to convert natural sugars into acids, producing its characteristic sour flavor and helping preserve the vegetable. It is traditionally associated with German and Central European cooking, although fermented cabbage dishes have a much broader history.

The wartime renaming was part of a larger campaign to avoid German cultural associations. Hamburgers were sometimes called “liberty sandwiches,” dachshunds became “liberty pups,” and German measles was jokingly renamed “liberty measles.” The term “liberty cabbage” did not describe a different vegetable or recipe; it was simply a temporary patriotic name for sauerkraut. After the war, the original name returned to common use.