ABBAGE, OR KAPUSTA, as we called it growing
up, played a memorable role in our family
meals in Nutley, New Jersey. My grandmoth-
ers, who both emigrated from Poland in the
early 20th century, brought their cherished
recipes with them, and Mom added her own as she became a
better and better cook. The six of us Kostyra children devoured
these eastern European dishes, like Mom’s cabbage pierogi (our
favorite!), cabbage soup, buckwheat-stuffed gołąbki (aka cab-
bage rolls), homemade sauerkraut, sautéed or braised cabbage
(made from both red and green varieties), and of course, the
creamy, vinegary slaws she made for our big family picnics.
Our vegetable plot in Nutley always had large, hard white
cabbages—Mom’s pick for pierogi—and the plain green ones she
used for her gołąbki. When I started my own garden, I planted
a range of different kinds to try in the kitchen. For instance, I
found that large, flower-like Savoys are perfect for stuffed cab-
bage—not to make traditional rolls, but to layer whole leaves
C
A BOLD BOUNTY
To harvest a ‘Red
Dragon’ cabbage,
Martha cut the stem
above the first layer
of outer leaves with
a sharp knife. She
grows a mix of Asian,
Savoy, green, and
red varieties, includ-
ing ‘Bilko’, ‘Caraflex’,
‘Deadon’ (right), and
‘Red Dragon’ (below),
in rich soil that’s
kept evenly moist.
over the filling to re-create a head of cabbage. This is a beautiful
way to elevate a peasant meal to an elegant entrée. (See this dish,
and a few others I love, on the next page.)
Every winter, I look through catalogs from companies like
Johnny’s Selected Seeds and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds to find
unusual hybrids to cultivate. I start the seeds indoors as indi-
vidual plants, and then move them to the garden after the last
frost in May. Like other vegetables in the Brassica genus, cab-
bages are easy to grow and healthy for us. They’re a good source
of cholesterol-lowering fiber, and contain antioxidants and a
range of B vitamins, as well as vitamins C and K.
I hope you will join me on the cruciferous bandwagon, and
try these delicious recipes. I promise you’ll like them!
20 SEPTEMBER 2019
