Cabbage

The cabbage (Brassica oleracea Capitata Group) is an edible plant of the Family Brassicaceae (or Cruciferae). It is herbaceous, biennial, and a dicotyledonous flowering plant with leaves forming a characteristic compact head. more...

Cabbage, broccoli (Italica Group), cauliflower (Botrytis Group), Kale (e.g. collard greens) (Acephala Group), kohlrabi (Gongylodes Group), brussels sprouts (Gemmifera Group), Chinese kale or Chinese broccoli (Alboglabra Group), broccolini (Italica x Alboglabra Group), and broccoflower (Italica x Botrytis Group) are all cultivars of the same plant species, Brassica oleracea.

The cabbage head was bred into the species from the leafy wild plant, found in the Mediterranean region around 100 AD. The English name derives from the French caboche (head). Varieties include Red cabbage and Savoy cabbage. Chinese cabbage, while resembling cabbage, is an independent development from a different Brassica species.

Cabbages are commonly used both cooked and as a salad vegetable. They keep well and were thus a common winter vegetable before refrigeration and long-distance shipping of produce. Sauerkraut is a fermented cabbage often used as a condiment or side dish.

The caterpillars of some butterflies in the family Pieridae (the "whites") feed on brassicas and can be serious pests.

The juice of the red cabbage can be used as a pH indicator.

Another common use of cabbage is in the staple of the Cabbage soup diet, a fad diet which involves eating several bowls of reportedly very bland, tasteless cabbage soup per day.

Culture

Broadly speaking, two groups of varieties are available: early and late. The early varieties mature in about 50 days. They produce small heads which do not keep well and are intended for consumption while fresh. The late cabbage matures in about 80 days, and produces a larger head.

Cabbage can be started indoors or sowed directly. Like all brassicae, cabbage is a cool season crop, so early and late plantings do better than those maturing in the heat of the summer.

Control of insect pests is important, particularly in commercial production where appearance is important. Sevin and malathion are both listed for use on cabbage.

Krautman is the most common variety for commercial production of sauerkrauts.

Cooking with cabbage

In North American cooking, cabbage is mainly used in coleslaw and sauerkraut; the latter is usually bought pre-prepared, as its production is time-consuming and smelly. Cabbage has somewhat fallen out of favor as an ingredient in North American soups and stews, perhaps because as a long-keeping, easy-to-grow vegetable, it's associated with poverty, and perhaps because the smell of a large pot of boiling cabbage is distinctive and lingering.

This is unfortunate, because as a minor ingredient in a soup or stew, cabbage brings a lot to the table. It's a source of umami and of sugars, and when allowed to stew in a dish until tender, brings a meaty, savory fullness to the dish. A soup or stew that includes cabbage as one of many ingredients doesn't stink up the house like a pot of cabbage soup would, and doesn't brew up flatulence in your belly. Eastern European cooking takes advantage of cabbage's stew-enhancing properties in such classic dishes as borscht with cabbage and beef.

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