The Dish on Cabbage

FOOD & DRINK | WRITTEN BY CHOICES' CHEF ANTONIO CERULLO

There are plenty of cabbage varieties to try: green, purple, white, savoy, napa and more. Cabbage—any variety—grows best in cooler climates that range between 4 and up to 24 degrees Celsius. Any warmer and it’ll end up being more leafy, like lettuce, and less dense than normal cabbage should be.

One of the great things about cabbage is that it’s extremely affordable, especially when it’s in season. And, as our team of dietitians and holistic nutritionists will tell you, cabbage has heaps of health benefits. It’s an excellent source of vitamins K, C and B6 and provides fibre and other nutrients like folate and calcium.

When buying any cabbage variety, look for tight, firmly packed leaves and head that’s dense and heavy. Once you have a healthy head of cabbage, it’ll last in your fridge for quite a while until you find the perfect recipe(s) to try.

The culinary applications of cabbage are amazingly diverse. Slice it finely and serve it as a crunchy coleslaw with a cream- or oil-based dressing. Feature it in a soup all on its own or combine it with other vegetables for classics like borscht (beet soup) or minestrone (vegetables, beans and pasta or rice soup). Hearty cabbage leaves (steamed or raw) make wonderful wraps for cabbage rolls. Meat and rice are a common combination, but you can also try potatoes and more cabbage, cheese like ricotta or marinated, roasted tofu. I also highly recommend adding bacon to your cabbage roll combo to boost the flavour profile, but it’s not absolutely necessary.

Many cultures worldwide use cabbage for various stews. Russian shchi is a stew with cabbage or sauerkraut, vegetables and usually pork or beef. Italian cassoeula is a cabbage stew that uses up the less popular pork pieces like ribs or rind for flavour. There’s also Chinese lion head soup that stews cabbage and other vegetables with pork meat balls. All are delicious, healthy, hearty and very economical because of the cabbage and other inexpensive ingredients.

Of course, you can enjoy cabbage braised cabbage on its own. Fermented cabbage is also jam packed with flavour and nutritional benefits. Consider taking a workshop to find out how you can make easy and probiotic-rich sauerkraut at home.