Instructions
Cabbage first came to me while living in England in the late 1970’s. I say it came to me, because let’s be honest, no 5-year-old seeks it out. Cabbage is big, green and fairly unsightly, and this was years before Shrek.
At the time Dad was studying at one of London’s top hospitals, hence the budget was tight for a family of five. So it was that we lived like the Irish: cabbage and potatoes. Sometimes Mum would mix it up a little: potatoes & cabbage!
But as a kid you aren’t aware of an empty pocketbook, or maybe my folks were just good at hiding it. Every child thinks they are the master of their world and, as a king, I must be living sumptuously. It just follows.
After an adolescent interlude of cabbage-bashing, I have returned to my roots and understand once more the sweet and rich pleasures offered by this humble vegetable. Cabbage has an elegant crispness while raw, and a sumptuous softness when cooked. But most of all, cabbage has a meatiness. Don’t laugh, it’s true. We call this characteristic umami: a Japanese term that implies heartiness or a sense of protein.
There are a bunch of cabbages in the Brassica family: Savoy, Chinese, red and so on. But it is the green cabbage that rules the kitchen roost. The outer leaves are mildly bitter with a pleasant chlorophyll flavour, while the white inner leaves are sweet and juicy. This makes cabbage extremely adaptable. In its various forms, green cabbage can be paired with almost any fish or meat.
As a result, cabbage has spawned a culinary heritage from Central Europe to Korea. It is the central component of renowned dishes like sauerkraut (Germany), kimchi (Korea), golabki (Poland) and kåldolmar (Sweden).
While advances in agricultural technologies mean that we can now buy cabbages year-round, no test-tube Franken-veg will ever come close to the flavour of a field-grown winter cabbage. The best time for buying is during the coldest months of the year, July and August. Look for a cabbage that feels heavy for its size. The denser the cabbage, the more difficult it is for small insects to get inside and help themselves to a meal. Ensure that the outside leaves are deep green and don’t have obvious dark marks or translucent patches that would indicate bruising or frost damage.
To cook cabbage, you can choose between raw, quick or slow. Raw is perfect for coleslaw and other salads. Quickly sautéing finely shredded cabbage will yield pliable and mildly crisp result ideal for seafood. Slowly-stewed cabbage cooks down to a thick vegetable paste, perfect for hearty winter meals.
Oh, and one last medical note. Beyond its use as a treatment for mastitis and its known gaseous propensity, cabbage is a powerful source of antioxidants that are vital for cardiovascular health. So take heart, cabbage is back in the good books!
Grilled rib-eye cutlet with bacon, cabbage and walnuts