Cabbage

Chou

What it is

Cato the Elder devoted pages of his farming manual to cabbage, convinced it cured everything from hangovers to gangrene. Its real gift came later and colder: salted and packed, it kept northern Europe and the Royal Navy alive through winters without scurvy.

In the kitchen

Cook it fast and hot or long and slow — never in between. The middle ground is where the sulphur smell lives.

Goes with

Butter Juniper berry Caraway Lard Apple Black pepper Onion Potato

Same species

Baek-kimchi Broccoli Brussels sprout Cauliflower Cavolo nero Chinese broccoli

Also used with

Abura-kasu Lactic acid Aonori Bavarian sweet mustard Beni shoga Mallard

In season alongside

Arbutus berry Coco de Paimpol Lautrec pink garlic Negi Pearl onion Hedgehog mushroom

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