BRASSICA OLERACEA VARIETY CAPITATAWILD CABBAGE still grows along the Atlantic coast of Europe. It doesn’t look much like the cabbage that we know, because its leaves don’t form the big, round, tight ball we call the head. Instead, it’s just a collection of lobe-shaped leaves. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks knew and ate this wild cabbage—the Greeks had the idea that cabbage sprang from Zeus’s sweat, which may stem from the strong odor cabbage acquires when overcooked. Another Greek saying about cabbage is that “cabbage served twice is death.” That is most likely a warning that cabbage doesn’t make very good leftovers, which it doesn’t.
The development of large terminal buds—the precursors of heads—probably started in northern Europe in the 1st century bce. Pliny the Elder wrote about a head of cabbage a foot in diameter, although this was hearsay on his part and may have been an exaggeration. Cabbage as we know it probably originated in Germany in the 12th century, and it first came to the New World aboard Jacques Cartier’s 1541 voyage to America. The first written record we have of cabbage being planted in North America is by Dutch and German immigrants in 1669.
From the 17th century, when northern and eastern European immigrants began arriving in America, to the 20th century, cabbage was one of the mainstays of the winter diet, either as fresh heads stored in the root cellar (they pulled up the whole plants, and hung them by the roots upside down from the ceiling, where they stored perfectly well for the entire winter) or as sauerkraut. Most folks in those agrarian times grew what they ate and ate what they grew. How thankful they must have been when the
first fresh spring salad of dandelion greens and ramps arrived to alleviate the boredom of yet another dinner of dried apples, potatoes, pork, and sauerkraut.
THE ORGANIC FACTOR
Lots of insects bedevil cabbage plants, which causes conventional growers to douse them with pesticides. But the chief pests—imported cabbageworms and cabbage loopers—can be easily controlled using organic methods like adding the bacteria Bacillus thurin-giensis (Bt), which causes a caterpillar disease that’s harmless to other forms of life. (The name “imported cabbageworm” refers to the fact that this pest crossed the Atlantic along with the northern Europeans and their heads of cabbage.)
Like most leafy plants, cabbage is a heavy feeder, meaning that it likes a soil rich in decaying organic matter—precisely the kind of soil organic gardeners and farmers strive to maintain. A soil rich in actively decaying organic matter produces the highest quality heads of cabbage.
NUTRITION
The red types are quite nutritious: 31⁄2 ounces of red cabbage contain 100 percent of a person’s recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin C, while a similar amount of green cabbage contains 35 percent.
Shredding and fermenting cabbage into the pickled form we call sauerkraut renders it even more nutritious than the fresh plant. As with most fermented foods, the action of bacteria or yeasts add nutrition to the base food.
TYPES
Centuries of breeding have given us numerous cabbage types—green, red, purple, white, and combinations of these colors; shiny leaves and tight, firm heads; light-green savoy-like heads (which have finely crinkled leaves) that are looser and are probably descended from the ancient Roman types; and Chinese types.
The flavor of cabbage changes from variety to variety, but the best raw cabbage is mild in flavor rather than pungently cabbagey, with a sweetness and delicate vegetal quality and a texture that is succulent and crisp, tender rather than leathery. When cooked, cabbage changes character, acquiring a stewed flavor that meshes beautifully with ham or corned beef.
Red cabbage is perhaps a little sweeter than green; green cabbage is more tender. Savoy-type cabbages, with their crinkled, frilled delicate leaves, are the mildest flavored.
SEASONALITY
Even though it’s available in our stores year round, winter is the best season for this staple food, when cabbage is at its sweetest.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
no matter what type of cabbage you’re buying, check the stem end to make sure it’s not dried out. The surface of any type should be clean and not bruised. Always toss out the wrapper leaves that have been handled in the journey from field to store. ....read more
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