Botanically, cabbage is a herbaceous, biennial flowering plant with leaves forming a characteristic compact cluster with a long shelf life.
Researchers established that it was derived from the leafy wild mustard plant native to the territories surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Ancient Greeks and Romans often used cabbage. Roman writer Cato the Elder was the first to record its medicinal properties.
There are several varieties, the most generic categories being white, red and Savoy. Some varieties of white cabbage are – late flat Dutch, Early Jersey, wakefield, Danish ball head.
Krautman variety is most commonly used for sauerkraut popular in Germany, Alsace, France and many north European countries including Poland, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Russia.
Red cabbage is always considerably smaller than its white cousin, and Savoy the tastiest and most tender.
Cabbage grows relatively fast from 47 to 87 days for late varieties.
Rich in vitamin C and glutamine, cabbage is a very popular vegetable in China, Russia, the U.K, Poland, Germany, the U.S.A., and Canada, in practically all countries around the Mediterranean Sea, Japan, and Korea.
Kim chi is another version of sauerkraut particularly popular in Korea.
Cabbage is a versatile vegetable. It can be eaten raw, “pickled” to sauerkraut and preserved for later use, sautéed, stewed, used a wrapper for stuffed cabbage, shredded to make coleslaw and in egg rolls.
Buy firm heads with shiny leaves and refrigerate in the coolest part of the refrigerator.
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Fårikål (lamb in cabbage) is a traditional Norwegian dish, consisting of pieces of lamb’s meat with bone, cabbage and whole black pepper. In fact it has been voted the national dish for Norway. It has its own fan club and they have a special day in September which is the day of the fårikål (the last Thursday in September).
