On Food and Cooking

leaves and stalks that help make these plants
so hardy. It was domesticated around 2,500
years ago, and thanks to its tolerance of cold
climates, it became an important staple
vegetable in Eastern Europe. The practice of
pickling it appears to have originated in
China.
Collards, kale, and Portuguese tronchuda
cabbage resemble wild cabbage in bearing
separate leaves along a fairly short main stalk;
tronchuda has especially massive midribs.
Cultivated cabbage forms a large head of
closely nested leaves around the tip of the
main stalk. There are many varieties, some
dark green, some nearly white, some red with
anthocyanin pigments, some deeply ridged,
and some smooth. In general, open-leaved
plants accumulate more vitamins C and A and
antioxidant carotenoids than heading varieties
whose inner leaves never see the light of day.
Heading cabbages often contain more sugar,
and store well for months after harvest.