THE CABBAGE
The thick, hardy, water-storing leaves of cabbage are a function of where the plant originated, along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea some 4,000 years ago. The sun-drenched air is salty and makes for difficult growing conditions for any plant. Developing its structure was cabbage’s way to survive and thrive in such a climate and environment.
Cabbage was headless at first, resembling what we know as collard greens. During the first century B.C.E., growers of the vegetable selected for one of the cabbage plant’s buds and the hard, smooth, green-white, sometimes red “head” that we know as cabbage was born. (This sort of cabbage ruled the Middle Ages in Northern Europe.)
But this is only one of several sorts of cabbage that figure in cooking. Chinese cabbages, so-called because European cabbage emigrated to the East along the Great Silk Road, are pointed and looser leafed. Bok choy is a good example. A third sort of cabbage was bred by the Belgians around the year 500 A.D. as Brussels sprouts. These “petits choux,” to use the French term meaning “little cabbages,” are just buds along the thick, fibrous stem of the cabbage.
A fourth variety of cabbage resembles the OG Mediterranean cabbage and is kale and collards, the most commonly eaten vegetable in Britain for more than 1,000 years. And, finally, a fifth family are “flowering” cabbages such as cauliflower and broccoli. (What we call the “crown” of these vegetables is actually a cabbage’s flower.)
Broccoli and cauliflower flourish as foods on their own, or dressed in several ways (roasted, braised whole, steamed, boiled, cut into “steaks” and grilled, and so on). The other cabbages are often married to other foods in final preparations, such as the famed corned beef and cabbage of St. Patrick’s Day. The most popular form of Irish-cooked cabbage, however, is colcannon, made by combining mashed potatoes and cabbage or kale.
Stuffed cabbage leaves are ubiquitous in the cuisines of Eastern Europe. Cabbage is classically paired with pork in both Western and Eastern cuisines; it is essential to both Chinese and Korean cooking.
Cooking cabbage hence has its rewards, but also its universal downside: its odor upon the application of heat, a function of high concentrations in the raw plant of both mustard oils (which give raw cabbage its “bite”) and various sulfur compounds.
The longer cabbage is cooked, the more these molecules produce themselves, therefore it is best not to overcook cabbage. For example, the hydrogen sulfide (typical of rotten eggs) produced by cooking cabbage doubles in the fifth through the seventh minute of cooking.
About cooking red cabbage, keep in mind that any red in it quickly turns to mauve on long cooking, then a slate blue, finally an unappetizing dirty green. However, cooking or preparing red cabbage with an acid (vinegar, for example, or wine, or citrus juice) preserves the red color. That’s the case with the recipe for red cabbage here.
ABOUT CABBAGES, FACT AND HISTORY
• Cabbage, Brassica oleracea, is from the family Cruciferae, from the Latin word for “cross.” Cabbage’s flowers are cross-shaped.
• In English, the word cabbage derives from the Latin for “head,” caput, by way of Old French for “head,” caboche.
• For thousands of years, growers have selected various parts of the Brassica plant for various forms of cabbage: selecting for the terminal heads led to hard, smooth “head cabbage”; selecting for lateral buds led to Brussels sprouts; for leaves, led to kale; for the root alone, to kohlrabi; and for stems and flowers, to broccoli and cauliflower.
• Cabbage has been cultivated for more time than any other major vegetable, upwards of 4,000 years.
• Cultivation of the Brussels sprout, on the other hand, dates back only 500 years. It is the youngest member of the cabbage family.
• Cabbage came to the Americas in the 1500s, surging in the 1660s with the influx of German immigrants.
• Many of the ancient Greek and Roman poets and philosophers—Diogenes, Horace, Pythagoras, and Cato, among them—considered eating cabbage a panacea and the secret to a long life. Cato had 25 sons who, he said, “like me, have eaten nothing but cabbage.”
• Cabbage is considered one of the healthiest of foods: it is high in dietary fiber, the vitamins K, C, B6, and A, and sports the minerals calcium, iron, potassium, and manganese. A cup of cabbage is about 15 calories.
• There are over 400 species of cabbage.
• Because cabbages are a very hardy, fertile plant, they gave rise to the myth of “cabbage patch babies,” said to originate in gardens of cabbages.
RECIPE: Red Cabbage Salad with Apples
Adapted from “Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook,” Ruth Van Waerebeek (Workman Publishing, 1996). Serves 6-8.
Ingredients
1 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 bay leaves
1 sprig fresh thyme
1/2 head red cabbage (about 1 pound), finely shredded
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 tart apple, unpeeled, halved, cored, and thinly sliced
1/2 cup walnut halves, toasted (see method below)
Directions
Heat the vinegar with the sugar, bay leaves, and thyme in a small saucepan. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Pour the warm vinegar over the shredded cabbage in a bowl and toss well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
Remove the salad from the refrigerator. The cabbage will be wilted and slightly pickled. Add the oil and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. The salad will keep in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.
Just before serving, discard the bay leaves and thyme. Decorate with the apple slices and sprinkle with the walnuts.
To toast nuts
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the nuts out evenly on a baking sheet and bake to 7-10 minutes, until you can just start to smell them and they have started to brown. Keep a careful eye on them as they can scorch easily. Let the nuts cook on paper towels before using.
RECIPE: Cabbage Braised with Apples
From “How to Cook Everything,” Mark Bittman (Double B Publishing, 2008). Makes 4 servings.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
1 and 1/2 to 2 pounds Savoy or other white cabbage, cored and shredded
2 cups sweet apple, cored, peeled, roughly chopped
3 cloves
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup apple juice, cider or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons apricot jam or preserves, for serving
Few drops lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, to taste, for serving
Directions
In a large pot, over medium-low heat, melt the butter and in it cook the cabbage, apples and cloves until the cabbage is glossy, about 3 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper, to taste.
To the pot, add the juice, cider or stock and cook the cabbage and apples until tender, but not mushy, about 30 minutes. To serve, stir in the jam and the lemon juice or vinegar.