Story, recipe & photos by Chef Gavin Smith
In my experience, successes in the kitchen come from intention and attention to detail. Many of us grew up eating meals that were either not prepared at home or prepared with great haste and very little skill. Some of us may have been luckier. Cabbage is not a food item that has many fond childhood memories for most of us. While I am not necessarily trying to push “slow food” every day, I believe it is important to slow down from time to time and offer ingredients the patience they take to make them into something special.
It is not terribly difficult to make a ribeye steak, or a black sea bass filet taste delicious, and I find that it is often not the protein that leaves the biggest impression on the people I cook for. It is often the humble vegetables that are sometimes overlooked that leave my guests most pleasantly surprised. On the Cape, we are very fortunate to have several local farmers producing a variety of beautiful vegetables all year long and, as spring unfolds and fields come to life, the offerings of our local resources become increasingly abundant.
Cabbage seems to be relegated almost exclusively to St. Patrick’s Day, coleslaw, or possibly fermented foods like sauerkraut or kimchi. I believe cabbage is an underused superstar, waiting to be loved more often. Cabbage (Brassica oleracea) is a member of the mustard family Brassicaceae, a large family of vegetables including bok choy, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, and many more that trace their roots back to a single ancestor that was bred selectively into each variety. Some for their leaves, like collard greens, and others for their florets.
Cabbage grows well in the sandy soil of Cape Cod and has historically been a reliable crop that is generally available from June to late October. In a properly maintained root cellar, a head of cabbage can last for three to six months, making it an excellent source of fresh food well into the winter when more limited fresh ingredients aren’t available.
Not all cabbages are created equal. While we commonly see red, green, and maybe Napa cabbage in the grocery store, there are over 400 varieties of cabbage. One of my favorites is the Caraflex, a firm conical cabbage whose flavor is on the sweet side and holds up very well to grilling or pan searing that I pick up from time to time at our local farmers’ markets.
I like to prepare cabbage in several ways, but the following recipe has been a recent favorite in my own home and is much more interesting than the boiled cabbage some of us were subjected to in our youth.
Gavin Smith is Chef /Owner of Food Minded Fellow. He’s a private chef with over a decade of experience serving locally-sourced ingredients for groups across the Cape and on Martha’s Vineyard. Chef Smith is also an avid fisherman, podcaster, writer and advocate for the independent farming and small boat fishing communities.
