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"May the leaves of your cabbage always be free from worms."
Irish Blessing
"It's no use boiling your cabbage twice"
Irish Advice
Cabbage is a loyal friend. It warms us during the chill of winter when other crops have fallen away, appearing in steaming soups or savory baked dishes. It refreshes us in summer, its fine slices piling high to make bowls of coleslaw. And no hot dog could hold its head up and call itself a true hot dog if cabbage were not made into sauerkraut.
The cabbage family is a large extended family. There are dozens of varieties of cabbage, but it also belongs to the family of cruciferous vegetables, brassica oleracea, which includes, kale, broccoli, collards, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and kohlrabi. Within the cabbage group are the tightly headed red and green cabbages, the longer, looser Savoy and Napa cabbages Bok choy is one of the most nutritious of the family.
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History of Cabbage
One of the oldest known vegetables, the cabbage seems to always have been with us. It grew both East and West, though the early cabbage was a weedy, loose-leafed plant. The firm head that we know today was a later development, most closely resembling kale, to which it is related. This was called wild cabbage, and is still called sea cabbage by the French.
In the East, pots containing cabbage that date back to 4,000 B.C. have been found in Shensi province in China. North China is probably the original home of Chinese cabbage. To the ancient chinese, it was considered a 'cooling' food in the yin and yang construct. Cabbage is favored for pickling and is considered ts'ai or suitable to go over rice. The pickled cabbage known as Kim Chee is a staple throughout Korea.
In the West, we hear of cabbage first from Greek myth and it gives us insight to the great story-telling abilities of the Greeks. The simple fact, one known to the Greeks, is that grape vines, source of wine, do not flourish when grown near cabbage. The Greeks converted this agricultural knowledge to myth. with apologies for abbreviation, the myth told of the god of wine, Dionysus, who wandered to Thrace accompanied by his loyal followers, the Bacchae. Thrace was the area of one Lycurgus. Threatened by Dionysus arrival, Lycurgus captured both Dionysus and all the Bacchae. To revenge this action, Dionysus had Lycurgus driven mad. Not in his right mine, Lycurgus mistook his son for a vine and cut his son to pieces. Learning what he had done, Lycurgus wept, and from the tears that fell to the ground sprang cabbage.
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Further evidence of cabbage and its powers are discerned through the story of Diogenes, most famous for his fruitless search for an honest man. Diogenes was given to eating cabbage as a health benefit. Speaking with a foolish young courtier of the Hedonist school, one given to flattery of the rich, Diogenes advised the young man, "If you lived on cabbage, you would not be obliged to flatter the powerful." To this, the courtier replied, "If you flattered the powerful, you would not be obliged to live on cabbage. " We won't take philosophical sides in this argument, however, we will make note that Diogenes lived to be 90, quite old in any age, while his Hedonist friend departed from his earthly pleasures at age 40.
In Rome, both Cato and Pliny extolled the virtues of cabbage. Cato, who lived to be 80, believed it should be eaten raw with vinegar, surely a a precursor to coleslaw. Pliny had much to say about cabbage (see below). In his work, Natural History, he mentions cabbage under the classification 'Materia Medica', focusing on its medicinal qualities when taken internally and when used as a poultice.
Early Uses of Cabbage
Despite Greek myth despite cabbage's on the shores of the Mediterranean, cabbage grows best in colder climates. Medieval records that tell us that cabbage was frequently found bubbling in a cauldron with whatever meats were available. Though we don't know when the head cabbage developed, we do know that the Savoy cabbage was one of the variety of dishes introduced to the French by Catherine de Medici who arrived from Florence in 1533 to wed the heir to the French throne
If language can be our guide, the Dutch may be the originators of coleslaw: kool means cabbage and sla means salad. The borders of Europe have shifted through the years, but the cabbage is recorded as a popular vegetable in Russia, Germany, Poland and Hungary as we know them today. It is a staple among the Irish, and one finds it almost shocking to discover an early Irish recipe for colcannon, the classic potato and cabbage dish, made with today's kale.
Cabbage lends to pickling and one of our favorite uses of cabbage is sauerkraut. The Germans also made this and the term "kraut' derives from the German-Americans use of sauerkraut. (please also read how sauerkraut builds football legs) Choucroute is French sauerkraut, the most famous dish being choucroute garni a la Alsacienne. The French province known as Alsace currently belongs to France but has a history that has seen the area tossed back and forth between Germany and France. In this area, choucroute is not merely a garnish for hot dogs and is made without vinegar. Choucroute garni requires washing the sauerkraut which in France removes some of the salt, but in the US removes vinegar. It is not possible to remove the vinegar which has soaked into the leaves, and our choucroute garni can never be authentic.
Cabbage on the High Seas
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In the seafaring days at the end of the 18th century, cabbage was laded onto ships making long voyages. We have record of Captain Cook's first voyage in which a storm injured many of the crew members. Supposedly they were saved from gangrene when the ship's doctor made poultices of cabbage to apply to their wounds. Whether this is true or not, those heads of cabbage would have provided the sailors with a great deal of nutrition. Captain Cook was also given to storing choucroute on his ships. Choucroute may have started quite simply as a soup, but is an ancient dish among the early Germanic peoples.
Cabbage in the Pocket - is Cabbage Luck?
A site member, Bill Robinson, writes to us, relating an old food superstition that he encountered: " For financial luck in the new year you hide a silver dollar outside on New Year's Eve. Just before midnight you bring it in. The next day you slit a hole in a cabbage, put the silver dollar in, and cook the cabbage. You then eat the cabbage. I am sure it can be traced to an old wife's tale." Is it a coincidence, then, that one of our terms for money is 'cabbage?'
Selecting and Storing Cabbage
Look for firm, heavy heads of cabbage and try to not buy one that has already been cut. It will have lost some of its nutritional value. Similarly, if you are making a coleslaw, try to make it as close to serving as possible.
Cabbage will keep for about two weeks in the refrigerator. Store it in a plastic bag, but punch a few holes in the bag so that air gets to it. Likewise a paper bag will store cabbage well under refrigeration. The leafy cabbages are a little more perishable and will keep for about a week in the fridge.
Nutritional Value of Cabbage
And now the good part. Cabbage is a rich source of vitamin C, of fiber, of iron, calcium, potassium. The odor that it emits comes from the sulphur content of cabbage which helps the body to resist bacteria and protects the protoplasm of the cells. It is said to aid in producing glossy hair.
Many studies are being conducted on the anthocyanins in cabbage. As none are conclusive, we want only to mention in passing that these studies all have to do with eh protective nature of cabbage. Sulforaphane may increase the production of antioxidants and enzymes in the body that detoxify. This may help eliminate carcinogenic compounds. While we hope these nutritional studies continue, we will continue to eat cabbage for its proven nutritional benefit, not for the hope that it will cure us of any current or future ills.
From Lewis Carroll, The Walrus,speaks, "The time has come...to talk of many things: Of shoes--and ships--and sealing wax--of cabbages--and kings--And why the sea is boiling hot--And whether pigs have wings."
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Cabbage Recipes:
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Pliny on Cabbage
From Natural History, A Selection, by Pliny the Elder, Gaius Plinius Secundus, AD 23 - 79
Quoting Cato, Pliny stands: "He records that when the cabbage is taken raw in the morning together with oxymel, coriander, rue, mint and silphium root...it is good for headaches, impaired vision, spots before the eyes, for the spleen and stomach, and for hypochondria."
"According to Cato's treatise, fresh or old wounds, and even malignant lesions that cannot be healed by any other treatment, should be fomented with hot water and have an application of pounded cabbage twice a day."
"...as cabbage is an enemy of the vine, men say it counteracts wine and consequently, if taken in food beforehand, prevents intoxication. If taken after drinking it neutralizes the effects."
"The Greeks assert that cabbage greatly improves the eyesight and that the benefit is considerable even if the juice of a raw cabbage mixed with Attic honey merely touches the corner of the eyes. The followers of Erisistratus claim that nothing is better for the stomach and sinews and so prescribe cabbage for paralysis as well as for the coughing-up of blood."
by Diana Farrell Serbe
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