Vegetable
Cabbage
ColColBrassica oleracea var. capitata
A vegetable that gets better in the cold: after a few frosts cabbage turns sweeter. One head will feed you all week without repeating a dish.
When
Around: Oct–Mar · At its best: Nov–Feb
Around: Oct–Mar · At its best: Nov–Feb
Around: Apr–Sept · At its best: May–Aug
Around here
In the Cerdanya, winter cabbage is the base of trinxat: boiled cabbage and potato, mashed and fried with pork belly (rosta). It's also essential in escudella i carn d'olla, the Catalan meat-and-veg stew. Its big leaves are rolled round minced meat to make farcellets de col.
At the market
- It should feel heavy for its size: tight and full of water.
- Firm, glossy outer leaves; limp or yellow ones mean it's been sitting around.
- The base of the stalk should be clean and moist, not cracked or dark.
- A few insect holes in the outer leaves don't matter; just peel them off.
At home
- Whole, in the fridge drawer, it lasts two weeks or more.
- Once cut, wrap the cut face in cling film or a damp cloth and use it within a few days.
- If you keep it out of the fridge, somewhere cool and dark, and preferably whole.
If you have too much
- Sauerkraut: shred finely with 2% salt, pack into a jar and leave to ferment for two to three weeks.
- Blanch whole leaves for a couple of minutes, drain and freeze them flat, ready for stuffing.
- Chopped, blanched 2 minutes and frozen, for soups, escudella or trinxat.
- Dressed raw cabbage salad keeps in the fridge for two or three days.
In the kitchen
- Trinxat de la Cerdanya, with potato and crispy pork belly.
- Raw and finely shredded with carrot, apple and a mustardy vinaigrette.
- Farcellets de col: blanched leaves stuffed with meat and braised.
- In escudella i carn d'olla or a Spanish cocido.
- Stir-fried hard with garlic, cumin or paprika.
- Roasted in thick wedges until the edges char.
What it brings
Per 100 g, raw.
- Energy
- 25 kcal
- Water
- 92% water
- Carbs
- 5.8 g
- Sugars
- 3.2 g
- Fibre
- 2.5 g
- Protein
- 1.3 g
Stands out for
- High in vitamin K76 µg · 101% of what you need in a day
- High in vitamin C36.6 mg · 46% of what you need in a day
- Source of folate43 µg · 22% of what you need in a day
Data from the USDA (FoodData Central). See the full table ↗ · How we decide what stands out
Goes with
- LeekOct–MarAn onion that never forms a bulb and tastes milder. The white part comes from earthing it up as it grows: the higher the soil, the longer the white.
- AppleAug–FebIt's harvested in late summer and autumn, but cold stores keep it on sale all year. In season, freshly picked, it crunches differently.
- ChestnutOct–DecBefore potatoes, chestnuts were winter bread in many European mountains. Today they mostly mean smoke in the street and hot newspaper cones in your hands.