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The Incomparable Cabbage
| Article
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14900 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
10 / 1988 |
906 Words |
| Author
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Eloise Paananen
Eloise Paananen is a food and travel writer based in
Washington, D.C. |
Cabbage is, in actuality, a flower. It resembles a rose as its petals unfold in growth, but its fragrance depends entirely on how it's prepared. Joking aside, cabbage is one of the most popular and enduring foods of almost all ethnic groups. In and out of haute cuisine menus, it is now enjoying renewed popularity, this time in pricey Parisian restaurants, four-star hotels, and in the kitchens of clever weight-watchers and health enthusiasts.
Memories of the odor of overcooked cabbage that permeated the tenements and boardinghouses of early immigrants have disappeared. In their stead are visions of vast arrays of seasoned cabbage-cooked or raw, rolled or stuffed, baked, pickled, boiled-appearing in recipes ranging from hors d'oeuvres, soups, and main dishes to side dishes and desserts.
Cabbage is a vigorous plant, which quickly puts out huge leaves as it grows. Once established, it develops smaller leaves that curl around each other like the petals of a rose. Gardeners have likened a cabbage with its curled leaves to the structure of the universe itself. Slice a red cabbage in half and observe the wonder of its design. Purple and white, in shadow and light, a merging, of yin and yang. Only nature could have created so perfect a pattern. The leaves are iridescent, more frosty blue than deep purple. In a vegetable garden, red cabbages seem like giant blooms from another planet.
Red cabbages contrast neatly with green cabbages; the light green, savoy type, with crinkled leaves and centers the pale yellow of butter, or the Jersey Wakefield, which grows into a little pointed head. There are all kinds to experiment with, but for a striking visual effect, whether in your garden or on your plate, try mixing red with green.
Whatever variety you, but make sure it's firm and solid. The ordinary smooth-leafed cabbage is green when young, and white when mature. White, or winter, cabbage makes the best coleslaw and sauerkraut. Green cabbage, which has green outer leaves and white inner leaves, including savoy cabbage, with its beautiful crinkles and mottled green leaves, cooks well, is milder, and is favorite of many. Red cabbage is usually cooked with red wine or red-wine vinegar to hold its color.
From colewort to cabbage
Today, America produces about 2.5 billion pounds of cabbage a year for fresh market and processing, making it
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