Cabbage is unfairly maligned. It doesn't have to taste like stewed socks and it delivers a vitamin C punch we need for health in the winter months. Try this French recipe for a one-dish duck-and-cabbage meal.
The pointy cabbage is an heirloom variety called Carafax in the U.S., and is becoming popular in farmers markets in the Northeast. I have been told by a Facebook friend who is a South Carolina food historian, that its U.S. origins are in the South, although documentation that seeds arrived along with early settlers from the UK is probably murky. I don't know enough to speculate. I do know that it is sweeter and more tender than standard commodity cabbage, and is what I buy when I see one. I have one in my refrigerator as I write this. The last time I cooked cabbage, I followed Gabrielle Hamilton's method which involves braising with anchovies and garlic. My husband was away for a few days, so I was free to cook things I know he wouldn't like. He wouldn't have liked it, but I did, very much. And I had enough to eat for several days!
The pointy cabbage is an heirloom variety called Carafax in the U.S., and is becoming popular in farmers markets in the Northeast. I have been told by a Facebook friend who is a South Carolina food historian, that its U.S. origins are in the South, although documentation that seeds arrived along with early settlers from the UK is probably murky. I don't know enough to speculate. I do know that it is sweeter and more tender than standard commodity cabbage, and is what I buy when I see one. I have one in my refrigerator as I write this. The last time I cooked cabbage, I followed Gabrielle Hamilton's method which involves braising with anchovies and garlic. My husband was away for a few days, so I was free to cook things I know he wouldn't like. He wouldn't have liked it, but I did, very much. And I had enough to eat for several days!
Tabled reader Harvey offers the following to inspire more people to take cabbage seriously:
"Your cabbage column brought to mind two very different memories.
1. Chef Chris Kajioka’s magnificent grilled cabbage, a mainstay of his superb Honolulu restaurant Senia, lovingly described in this story:
https://medium.com/@TheCulinaryMind/anatomy-of-a-plate-with-chef-chris-kajioka-1eb2bb7aebb4
2. My Jewish mother’s stuffed cabbage, a regular midweek meal as I grew up, the recipe well documented by Joan Nathan.
https://food52.com/recipes/23756-joan-nathan-s-chosen-stuffed-cabbage"