Wednesday, March 14, 2007

The hidden depths of cabbage

It comes as no surprise to me to read that the ancient Greeks recognised hidden depths in a cabbage. This was a vegetable that sprang from the fallen tears of a Thracian king waiting to be killed by the god of wine Dionysus - and all because he had uprooted a couple of his measly grapevines.

In tribute to this tragic myth, my son Freddie was sombre when I served him braised red cabbage with guinea fowl. The fowl went down a treat but the red cabbage sat uncomfortably on his plate knowing that young Master Fred was avoiding it.
He did finally do the gentlemanly thing. He forked a paltry amount of red cabbage and put it in his mouth, swallowed it and uttered the charming word "Yuk!" This felt suspiciously like the old days, the days before the Great Big Vegetable Challenge widened his culinary horizons.

But we are both undeterred as so many of you have left us delicious cabbage recipes to try out. We will make sure that the image of cabbage is transformed. And for those of you with any real taste - try the red cabbage recipe. The rest of the family wolfed it down....
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4 comments:

  1. Ai, poor Freddie. Some day, he'll know. PS Harold McGee coaches that there is actually a chemical reaction to some vegetables: it's not always a 'picky eater' thing, it's actually a chemical reaction.

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  2. Anonymous7:52 PM

    Sounds good to me, and I have half a red cabbage that needs to be used. I don't have any currents on hand though, do you think raisins or dried cranberries would work?

    Other Cabbage recipes--
    Last night I took cole slaw to a church potluck. I used this recipe: http://tofu-n-sproutz.blogspot.com/2007/03/thai-sweet-and-hot-cole-slaw.html

    It made a huge amount and I thought I'd have tons left over, but people loved it. There was only one small serving left, and my husband took it in his lunch. Several people requested the recipe, and one wanted to serve it in his restaurant. (I used only 1/2 a jalapeno since I didn't want to take anything too spicy to a potluck)

    My favortite way to cook cabbage is to cut a small cabbage into wedges and core it. Then I put water on a plate and microwave for 5 minutes on high. I take the wedges, drizzle them with olive oil, and sprinkle fresh ground pepper and seasoned salt (Or salt, paprika, cumin, & garlic powder) Then I wrap them in foil and grill them until tender. You could skip the microwave step and just grill it longer. Yum! My husband and I love it like this.

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  3. Anonymous7:46 AM

    I think cranberries might be really nice - mayube a little sharp in taste?
    You could just leave out the currant element altogether.
    I haev also cooked red cabbage with mild chilli peppers and that was great - though not good for the kids.
    GBVC

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  4. red cabbage is one of my favorites. my boyfriend is polish and his mother prepares it with olive oil and balsamic vinegar -- it's one of my favorites - i could eat it forever!

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