Cabbage
Brassica oleracea var. capitata
I
thoroughly enjoy a number of German dishes, Apparently their rapid early summer growth
and I count as one of my very best friends the (sun plus water) caused the splitting. Th e water
great Bavarian master chef Karl Guggennoss, should be on the roots, as in bed irrigation.
dean of Culinary Studies at Johnson and Wales And should the sun blaze forth next year, then
University, one of the largest chef-training I shall grasp the cabbage, like my chiropractor
schools in the world. grabs my head, and give it a gentle half turn to
Chef Guggennoss loves red cabbage, and so the left (or right) to detach some of the shallow
do I. But, as I have discovered, I do have my roots and thus slow the growth. If the sun per
limits. I devoted an entire row of my fl edgling sists, then I’ll create some shade for them.
garden to red cabbage—one after the other Whether it is red or green or nearly white, I
after the other . . . Ah, for an occasional green- love the succulent, smooth sweetness of cab
leafed Savoy cabbage! bage, especially when paired with sweet onions
To add further complications, a combina sautéed with a little olive oil and perhaps a few
tion of my not-so-well-regulated overhead dill or coriander seeds.
irrigation and a particularly hot, sunny period
caused the heads to split!
If you are an experienced gardener, you will,
at this point, be wagging your head back and
forth and muttering , “Didn’t he know better?” The Numbers
The answer is, of course, “No. I didn’t.” Th at’s For each 100 g cooked (3.5 oz ; 1 cup): 23 calories, 0 g
the kind of thing you learn by mistake during fat, 0 g saturated fat, 6 carbohydrate, 1 g protein, 2 g
your first year ever! dietary fiber, 8 mg sodium.
100 • GROWING AT THE SPEED OF LIFE
