It’s time to forget about the boiled, mushy greens of our past and rediscover how versatile and delicious vegetables from the cabbage family can be, says Tom Norrington-Davies.
From kimchee to coleslaw, and bubble and squeak to bok choi, cabbages are probably the world’s most widely used vegetables. They have been with us for a very long time – longer, possibly, than any of the other vegetables we think of as intrinsically British. Sea kale is thought to be one of a handful of our truly native edible plants. Most of the other cultivated vegetables have been blown in by way of one invasion or another.
I know what you’re thinking: I started talking about cabbages and ended up with kale. This is the trouble with cabbages, or at least the trouble with trying to define one. There are endless varieties of brassica or, to give them another name, ‘cruciferous’ vegetables: Chinese greens, kales, cauliflower and broccoli all belong to the group.
So the good news for those of you who thought you didn’t like cabbage is that there is probably a member of the brassica family that floats your boat, and so there should be. Nutritionists pretty much unanimously agree we ought to eat lots of these vegetables, which are rich in vitamins A, B and C and, more importantly, may protect against cancer. If you are still claiming to hate cabbages, then hurry up and find a way to stop being such a fusspot!
And while I’m being so bossy, perhaps it is time to deal with this ‘fear of cabbage’. For most of my childhood, cabbage was so reviled that it starred as the booby prize in the TV show Crackerjack. Part of the problem is the way British households cooked cabbages before the surge in popularity of Mediterranean and Eastern cooking. All brassica, from broccoli to the universally loathed Brussels sprout, were boiled. And boiled. And boiled some more, until they fell to bits in their watery grave and stank out the house. The smell – of school dinners and hospital meals – was the final straw. But if, like me, you don’t like the smell of boiled cabbage, don’t boil it! There are plenty of other fantastic ways to cook this extremely versatile group of vegetables, and plenty of things to pair them with.
As the 1803 Gourmands’ Almanac advises: “Seasoning is everything. Even the most vulgar words are ennobled by the pen of a great poet.” They don’t write cookbooks like that anymore! The almanac is right. Unless the mildly bitter, sometimes sweet taste of greens is really exciting to you, it is what you pair with a cabbage that really counts. In fact, you usually find it paired with pretty punchy flavours: it is fermented in the form of Korean and Chinese kimchee or Alsatian choucroûte (sauerkraut); it responds brilliantly to the saltiness of anchovies or bacon; it stands up to the astringency of sage or garlic, and it even takes kindly to the intense gaminess of wild meat and seafood.
I have suggested a type of cabbage for each of these recipes, but all are interchangeable. You can choose your cabbage on the strength of its taste, if you like. A good rule of thumb is: the darker the leaves, the more bitter the taste. Kale, the outer leaves of a savoy and the deeply trendy black cabbage (cavolo nero) are the most ‘in your face’; Chinese greens are usually peppery and slightly mustardy; and red and white cabbages can be downright sweet.
Good cabbages are firm to the touch – even those without a solid ‘heart’ or core, such as kale and cavolo nero. Wilting leaves are a bad sign, as is any yellowing. Cabbages keep well and don’t mind the cold, which makes them a fairly ‘forgiving’ vegetable. You will know what I mean if, like me, you have bought one in a fit of enthusiasm then neglected it.