The New Complete Book of Food
Avoid: Very mature kohlrabi. The older the stem, the more cellulose and lignin it contains.
Very old kohlrabi may have so much fiber that it is inedible.Storing This Food
Cut off the green tops. Then, store kohlrabi in a cold, humid place (a root cellar or the refrig-
erator) to keep it from drying out.
Save and refrigerate the kohlrabi’s green leaves. They can be cooked and eaten like
spinach.When You Are Ready to Cook This Food
Wash the kohlrabi under running water, using a vegetable brush to remove dirt and debris.
Then peel the root and slice or quarter it for cooking.What Happens When You Cook This Food
Cooking softens kohlrabi by dissolving its soluble food fibers. Like other cruciferous veg-
etables, kohlrabi contains natural sulfur compounds that break down into a variety of smelly
chemicals (including hydrogen sulfide and ammonia) when the vegetables are heated. Kohl-
rabi is nowhere near as smelly as some of the other crucifers, but this production of smelly
compounds is intensified by long cooking or by cooking the vegetable in an aluminum pot.
Adding a slice of bread to the cooking water may lessen the odor; keeping a lid on the pot
will stop the smelly molecules from floating off into the air.How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food
* * *Medical Uses and/or Benefits
Protection against certain cancers. Naturally occurring chemicals (indoles, isothiocyanates,
glucosinolates, dithiolethiones, and phenols) in kohlrabi, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broc-
coli, cabbage, and other cruciferous vegetables appear to reduce the risk of some cancers,
perhaps by preventing the formation of carcinogens in your body or by blocking cancer-
causing substances from reaching or reacting with sensitive body tissues or by inhibiting the
transformation of healthy cells to malignant ones.
All cruciferous vegetables contain sulforaphane, a member of a family of chemicals
known as isothiocyanates. In experiments with laboratory rats, sulforaphane appears to
increase the body’s production of phase-2 enzymes, naturally occurring substances that inacti-