Considering the way it's usually cooked, it's not surprising that so many people dislike cabbage. Overcooking it produces sulphur, which smells and tastes truly awful (it's used in making stink bombs!). But when cooked well, all members of the cabbage family (brassicas) can taste good. And for health, children should be eating green leafy vegetables several times a week.
Nutritional Value
Cabbages are bursting with extraordinary plant compounds and an array of minerals, notably potassium, magnesium and iron. They also have good amounts of vitamin C, carotene, folate and fibre. Both cabbages and Brussels sprouts (which are really tiny cabbages growing along a tall stem) supply chemicals that can help prevent cancer. Cooking cabbage with oil or fat helps the absorption of valuable carotenoids. The deeper green leaves are the most beneficial but have a stronger taste.
Cabbage and vitamin C
When any plant is cut, the cut surfaces become exposed to oxygen, which immediately begins to destroy vitamin C. With sliced cabbage, which has lots of cut surfaces, a third of the vitamin C can be gone in just 20 minutes. Cooking also destroys vitamin C, and keeping greens warm is even more destructive.
However, these losses can be greatly reduced if cabbage is kept well chilled before and after cutting, sliced at the last moment and served as soon as it's cooked. If it's to be eaten raw in a salad, toss it in oil as soon as it's sliced. To keep cabbage fresh, keep it wrapped in damp paper in a closed plastic bag in the fridge.
Cooking Cabbage
'Steam-boiling' is an excellent method: throw the sliced cabbage into a small amount of fast-boiling water in a non-reactive saucepan; boil steadily half-covered (to keep the colour bright and to release any sulphur) until just tender (after six to nine minutes).
Try to work out how much water to use so that when the cabbage is done, all the water has evaporated. So, instead of valuable nutrients being thrown away with the cooking water, they'll be retained, precipitated in the pan. Then stir a little butter and black pepper into the cabbage, toss briefly over heat to coat the leaves well, and serve at once.
Cooking cabbage in a steamer leaches fewer nutrients into the cooking water than ordinary boiling and takes only slightly longer. Stir-frying in olive oil is also a good method - perhaps try a 'Chinese' stir-fry!
Getting Cabbage Eaten
- Putting a good dab of butter on top makes it appealing to children.
- Savoy cabbage tastes fairly mild and has lots of yellow leaves.
- Mix in a little cheese sauce and nutmeg.
- Stir-fry finely sliced cabbage, onion and apple together.
- Add shredded leaves to soups and stews.
- The popularity of 'bubble and squeak' shows the power of a funny name!
Cooking Sprouts
Rinse, trim the stalks, but keep the deeper green outer leaves on. Halve lengthways and boil in minimum water for seven minutes (ten for whole sprouts). Drain if necessary, saving the water for other cooking. Sprouts are done as soon as the tip of a sharp knife can pierce them. Toss in a little butter, black pepper and lemon juice to mask any bitterness. Perhaps mix with toasted breadcrumbs or crisp bacon bits.
RECIPES
Green Mystery Mountain
Roughly puree cooked sprouts into a little buttery mashed potato; beat in black pepper and lemon juice. Pile up on a heated serving dish and surround with parsley sprigs. Pureeing incorporates oxygen which changes a food's taste: useful when a vegetable is disliked.
Bubble and squeak
Traditionally made with leftover Brussels sprouts or cabbage and potatoes, this can use freshly cooked ones. Mix roughly mashed greens into mashed potato, adding black pepper and lemon juice. Shape into patties and coat with brown flour. Fry or bake in a little bacon fat or olive oil, turning once. Serve with tomato sauce, bacon, egg and/or toast.
Sweet red cabbage
With sausages and roast potatoes, this makes a terrific winter dinner.
1 kilo or more red cabbage; 2 tbsp bacon fat or olive oil; 4 eating apples, sliced thinly; 1 large red onion, chopped finely; 1 garlic clove, crushed; 4 tbsp wine vinegar; 2 tbsp brown flour; 2 tbsp sugar; 2 tsp black treacle; 2 tsp grated orange rind; 1 tsp grated nutmeg; black pepper; salt.
Wash cabbage, quarter and remove core and ribs. Shred, then cook in melted fat in a non-reactive, covered stewpan for five minutes. Mix in the apple, onion and garlic. Add enough water to barely cover and bring to the boil. Cover, then simmer for 25 minutes or until tender. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, mix flour, sugar, pepper, nutmeg, wine vinegar, treacle and a speck of salt. Set aside.
Drain the water from cooked cabbage into a bowl. Gradually whisk it into the flour mixture. Then whisk this mixture over heat to a thickened sauce. Stir into cabbage along with the orange rind.
MAIN NUTRIENTS PER 100G OF RAW CABBAGE
Vitamin C Calcium Folate Carotene Potassium Fibre
Spring greens 180mg 210mg 92mcg 8295mcg 70mg 3.4g
Brussels sprouts 115mg 26mg 135mcg 215mcg 450mg 4.1g
Savoy cabbage 60mg 52mg 40mcg 1150mcg 270mg 3.1g
Red cabbage 57mg 51mg 21mcg 20mcg 206mg 2.5g
White cabbage 35mg 49mg 34mcg 9mcg 240mg 2.1g
This table shows how enormously nutrients can vary in different types of
cabbage.
'BUT IT'S GREEN!'
In fact, children are programmed to be wary of green food. From earliest times, we acquired a crucial preference for ripe red/orange/yellow fruits over unripe green ones. The nutritional value of eating riper fruit enabled humans' superior brains to develop.
