Culinary Poll #002: Babies in the Cabbage Patch

[Daniel Rogov]

I have long known that babies (especially baby rabbits) come from cabbage patches. I have also long known that the combination of corned-beef and cabbage can be a feast for the gods. On the other hand, there are people who cannot tolerate the smell of cooked cabbage.

Simply stated, where do we stand on the cabbage issue? And if you do enjoy it, please list one or two of your favorite dishes and perhaps a recipe or two.

[Amy_Y_]

Finnish cabbage casserole or cabbage rolls ! Very delicious....

Yes, cabbage can be good, even the smell is not the best...

Recipe for the casserole:

* 1 small cabbage
* 2 tablespoons oil (I use butter)
* 300-400 g minced meat
* 2-3 onions
* (2-3 garlic cloves)
* 1 dl bouillon
* 1 teaspoons salt or to taste
* 1-2 tablespoons dark syrup
* 1 teaspoons peppercorns
* minced (or dried) marjoram
* white pepper
* (cream)

Method:
1. Shred / chop the cabbage and mince the onions and garlic.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the onion, garlic and some shredded cabbage.
3. Let it simmer adding more cabbage. Add the peppercorns as well.
4. Add the bouillon.
5. Put the mixture in a casserole and let it simmer wither on the hob or in you can put it in the oven. Add other ingredients.

The longer it it cooks, the better it tastes. Add water/cream when it looks dry. Stir at times.

We usually eat it with crushed lingonberries.

Not very kosher, thought (but I'm not Jewish either), I guess (if you do it my way...)

Some vegans use soya grains instead of minced meat.

[Peter G]

cabbage can be heaven or hell depending on how it is cooked. I was brought up on English-style stewed boiled cabbage that tastes as bad as it smells. Life in France taught me the delight of parboiled sauteed cabbage with lardons and onions. If it is almost al dente and not overcooked, properly seasoned with some white pepper, it can be heavenly. Finnish cabbage rolls take it to a whole new dimension.

[Amy_Y_]

Peter asked me to add the recipe for cabbage rolls and here it is:

http://everything2.com/title/Finnish%25 ... %2520Rolls

The only exception os that I do not use barley or rice as I don't think that that stuff belongs to cabbage rolls (and it doesn't make them any better). Instead I use the finely chopped core of the cabbage and/or a plenty of chopped, wild mushrooms.

[Gamliel K]

I adore cabbage, but only when cooked. (Raw cabbage is somthing best left to feed the baby rabbits.)

As for favorite cabbage dishes:

Holishkes (meat and rice stuffed cabbage)
Corned beef and Cabbage
Hot meat Borscht
Cabbage stewed in lager and served on hot dogs

Gamliel

[Ryan M]

Can take it or leave it, depending mostly on how it is prepared. I will always take Sauerkraut. Cole Slaw depends on what form and my mood. Corned beef and cabbage always, but that given that it's a once a year thing. Overall though, in most contexts I like it.

[Jenise]

Got to agree with Peter G, most cooked cabbage is sadly overcooked and there's a beautiful place between raw and boiled where the cabbage is still crisp and the natural sugars brought out by heat have made it sweeter. Love it cold, sauteed, stir-fried or lightly poached in some kind of broth (corned beef and cabbage, as many have mentioned). Cabbage rolls are also a winner.

Probably the most different thing I do with it is to place a slice of goats milk cheese (and sometimes fresh dill, garlic or chopped green olives) in the center of a leaf steamed to the pliant stage, which is then folded up into a square packet, then run through flour, egg and breadcrumbs and pan-fried to golden brown on each side. Makes a brilliant, contrasting garnish for a classic charcroute.

[Robert Reynolds]

raw cabbage is good in cole slaw, a time-honored picnic side that I love.

[Matilda L]

Poor old cabbage is one of the most abused and misunderstood vegetables around. Treated with respect, it is delicious. Treated badly (eg, boiled to blazes) it is disgusting.

A favourite way of preparing it, to add to the recipes:

Use a large saucepan with a tight-fitting lid.
1 medium onion, finely sliced: saute in a generous amount of butter over medium heat.
As it starts to look transparent and soft, add a green cooking apple, with the core cut out but the peel still on if you like, chopped up into small thin pieces.
Shred half a cabbage finely, and add to the pan. Toss the butter, onion and apple through it, so all the cabbage is coated.
Add a heaped tablespoon of dark brown sugar, and a hefty slug of malt vinegar. (That's a technical term; half a cup might be ok. Put in more if you think it needs it.)
Put the lid on the saucepan, and cook slowly over low heat, stirring every so often to stop it catching and burning.

Nice to eat with sausage, veal or chicken. Tastes good the second day, too.

Matilda

[Amy_Y_]

Tastes good the second day, too.

Matilda

Yes, it is true. This applies also to the cabbage casserole and cabbage rolls - what a strange vegetable....

[EY Han]

Can take it or leave it, depending mostly on how it is prepared. I will always take Sauerkraut. Cole Slaw depends on what form and my mood. Corned beef and cabbage always, but that given that it's a once a year thing. Overall though, in most contexts I like it.

Ryan, I agree 100% with your assessment of cabbage. In fact, there used to (under different management now?) one Falafel joint in Tel Aviv (Frischmann Falafel) that I used to love to patronize as one out of many things they did well was serve actual Sauerkraut. I'm starting to have a craving right now actually…

Another thing I love is steamed cabbage alongside Chinese steamed dumpling rolls ("Bowzuh" [?]).

Best wishes,
E.Y.