… to talk of many things, of shoes and ships, and
sealing-wax, of cabbages and kings … so said the Walrus to the Carpenter in the
Lewis Carroll classic “Through the Looking Glass”. There are indeed many that
would consider the humble cabbage to be a king among vegetables and certainly at
the head of the table in the Brassica royal family which includes, cauliflower, broccoli, mustard greens, and Brussels sprouts (and yes
they were first grown in Brussels in Belgium as early as the 13th
century now that you ask).
Cabbage is packed with vitamins B, C, and K, loads of
minerals, and is an excellent source of dietary fibre … in short it’s very good for
us. It can be eaten raw, cooked, and pickled.
The early seafaring nations of Europe and Scandinavia ensured that their
sailing ships had plenty of barrels of sauerkraut on-board. Being pickled it
kept well on long journeys, but most importantly, as part of the crews daily food ration it helped prevent that scourge of sailors, scurvy, brought on
by a lack of vitamin C. And let’s face
it, we do all look and feel a lot better when our teeth aren't falling out on daily
basis don’t we!
Cabbage leaves also have cooling properties that, along with cabbage juice, have lent
themselves to use in herbal medicines like compresses and poultices, including being a
treatment for “trench foot” (now doesn't that sound nasty) in World War I.
With all this going for it you’d think the cabbage would be
popular with everyone wouldn't you, but not so. Many people find cabbage to
have a bitter and unpleasant taste, and the culprit is the compound that gives cabbage
its flavour, because it contains sulphur. This gets worse if cabbage is
overcooked as overcooking creates hydrogen sulphide gas … poo stinky, sorry I
mean pungent and unpleasant.
The Doll found this gastronomical quarterly “Wine
and Food” from 1941 which chided the general public (i.e. non gastronomes) for over cooking cabbage, rendering it virtually inedible, and creating terrible smells. It then goes on to provide a fool proof recipe to avoid overcooking … “cut it into quarters, wash
them in vinegar and water, and them put into a pan with whatever fat source you
have (it was war time after all) like butter or dripping, or lard, then put the lid firmly on the
pan and steam for about an hour for a small cabbage"!!!
The record for the worlds heaviest cabbage is 62.71 kg
(138.25 lb) set in 2012 by Scott Robb in Palmer, Alaska … imagine how long they would have cooked
that for in 1941 …
4 comments:
Now this is interesting Ted, I have to admit it's the smell that puts me off every time.. but it seems I have been cooking my cabbage all wrong :) will try out this 'war time' way of cooking pronto!
Such a beautiful image on your post today Ted. And, I for one am a lover of cabbage and cauliflower and broccoli and most of all Brussels Sprouts. I fix Brussel's Sprouts very often and in all different ways.
I like them as cabbage rolls.
Can't imagine what it tastes like after an hour! Must admit I don't have cabbage nowadays.
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