Cabbage
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The cabbage (Brassica oleracea Capitata Group) is a plant of the Family Brassicaceae (or Cruciferae). It is herbaceous, biennial, and a dicotyledonous flowering plant with leaves forming a characteristic compact cluster. This so-called 'cabbage head' is widely consumed — raw, cooked, or preserved — in a great variety of dishes, and is thus a leaf vegetable.
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 Normanno-Picard caboche ("head"). Varieties include red cabbage and savoy cabbage.
Besides cabbage proper, the species, Brassica oleracea has many distinctive cultivars, which are commonly known by other names: broccoli (Italica Group), cauliflower (Botrytis Group), kale, collard greens, and spring greens (Acephala Group), kohlrabi (Gongylodes Group), brussels sprouts (Gemmifera Group), Chinese kale or Chinese broccoli (Alboglabra Group), broccolini (Italica × Alboglabra Group), and broccoflower (Italica × Botrytis Group).
Chinese cabbage, while resembling cabbage, is an independent development from a different Brassica species. Kerguelen cabbage is yet another unrelated species.
Cabbage has developed by man's ongoing artificial selection for suppression of the internode length within the wild mustard plant.
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Uses
The only part of the plant that is normally eaten is the leafy head; more precisely, the spherical cluster of immature leaves, excluding the partially unfolded outer leaves. Cabbages are commonly used both cooked and as a salad vegetable. Sauerkraut is a fermented cabbage often used as a condiment or side dish.
Salads
Cabbage leaves are considered too tough to be used whole in salads, so they are usually sliced into thin strips or chopped, as in coleslaw.
Cooking
Cabbage is often prepared by boiling, usually as part of soups or stews such as the Central and Eastern European borscht.
Boiling tenderizes the leaves, converts some of their starch to sugars, and develops a characteristic "cabbage" aroma. Indeed, boiled cabbage seems to have fallen out of favor in North America, possibly due to the strong smell released during the cooking, to its image as a food of the poor, or to its reputation for promoting flatulence. Boiled cabbage as an accompaniment to meats and other dishes can be an opportune source of umami, sugars and dietary fiber.
Fermented and preserved
Cabbage is often consumed as sauerkraut, a preserve made from sliced, cooked, and fermented heads. Sauerkraut was historically prepared at home, as a way of storing food for the winter; but its production is time-consuming and smelly, so nowadays it is mainly an industrialized product.
Other uses
The juice of the red cabbage can be used as a pH indicator [1].
Cultivation
Image:Cabbages - garden.JPG 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. The pesticides sevin and malathion are both listed for use on cabbage. The caterpillars of some butterflies in the family Pieridae (the "whites") feed on brassicas and can be serious pests.
Krautman is the most common variety for commercial production of sauerkrauts.
Cabbages keep well and were thus a common winter vegetable before refrigeration and long-distance shipping of produce.
See also
- Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris)
- Kerguelen cabbage (Pringlea antiscorbutica)
- Cabbage soup diet
External links
- Complete nutritional info.
- Cabbage for the home gardener
- Health Benefits of Cabbage Diet
- About sauerkraut
- Benefits of Cabbagecy:Bresychen
de:Weißkohl es:Repollo eo:Brasiko fr:Chou (plante) he:כרוב it:Cavolo ja:キャベツ lt:Kopūstas nl:Witte kool nrm:Caboche pl:Kapusta warzywna pt:repolho sv:vitkål zh:捲心菜