Cabbage
Cabbage belongs to the Brassica group of vegetables - known also as cruciferous vegetables because their flowers are crossed-shaped. Other vegetables in the crucifer group are kale, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and broccoli.
In the Chinese cabbage category - napa, celery cabbage, bok choy, kohlrabi - "choi" is the word for vegetable as well as cabbage - an enormous category!
Cabbage is used in many cuisines -- Korean, German, Austrian, Eastern European, Chinese, Irish, American -- and today still has a bit of an antisocial reputation because hydrogen sulfide is released when cabbage is cooked. Note: the longer cabbage is cooked, the more hydrogen sulfide is produced. An ancient Greek saying "cabbage twice cooked is death", is applicable, unless precaution is used when cooking - add a chile pepper, as it will diminish the odor. Nevertheless, cabbage has been a very popular vegetable for over 2,500 years. Cabbage varieties include green, red, savoy and napa. One of the oldest vegetables, cabbage is inexpensive, and a dietary staple. It is very easy to grow, tolerant of cold weather, and a good keeper. Rich in Vitamin C and a great source of fiber, cabbage can be steamed, braised, stuffed, included in stir-fries. It is enjoyed raw in cole slaws - red and green make a very colorful salad!
Cabbage in the form of sauerkraut was an essential in medieval times - historians believe that pickled cabbage arrived in Europe via the Tartars, and developed into sauerkraut by the Celts who are thought to have cultivated the headed variety of cabbage around 200 BC. Vegetables, unfortunately, were not highly regarded in Europe until around the 18th century - some thought that vegetables caused the plague! Fact: plums, black cherries and cucumbers were forbidden during the plague epidemic in the 17th century.
In the 1980's cabbage was listed as one of the top 20 vegetables considered an important food source sustaining world population by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN - many countries have included cabbage as part of their national cuisine.
All cabbages are cruciferous - broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kale and collards - based on research, the phytochemicals "indoles" in foods in the cabbage family are very healthy in terms of fighting certain diseases.
Raw cabbage contains iron, calcium, potassium, Vitamin C, B1, B2, B3, and D. Cooking reduces the nutritional value of cabbage considerably. Savoy and napa cabbages contain a great deal of Vitamin A, while red and green cabbages contain much less of this valuable vitamin. Bok Choy on the other hand is full of Vitamin A - 60% of RDA, and equal to red and green cabbage in other nutrients.
Ancestral cabbage was a scraggly seaside plant that resembled today's kale - around the 1st century BC headed cabbages were reported. Pliny the Elder wrote during the 1st century AD that cabbage with an average diameter of 12" existed. Diogenes - great philosopher, terrible manners - only consumed cabbage and water! The Romans loved HUGE vegetables, and Apicius - famous cookbook author - focused his recipes on the shoots of cabbage called cauliculus that were prepared with very spicy sauces.
Cabbage was used for healing - the leaves and juice were applied externally by the Romans, and by the middle ages cabbage plasters were being used for sciatica and varicose ulcers. Sulphur - it's the sulphur in the cabbage that provides the healing properties. Cabbage was loaded on ships for long voyages because it helped stave off scurvy - excellent source of Vitamin C.
The best way to prepare cabbage: Here is a simple, medieval instruction: "take a large quantity of the worts (cabbages), and shred them, and put butter thereto, and seethe them and serve forth - and let nothing come nigh them."