My Rediscovery of Cabbage
| April 18, 2012 | Posted by Renaldo under Cooking, Produce |
I remember when I was a kid of how much I disliked cabbage. My mother had this crock pot where she would slow cook many different kinds of vegetables, meats, and legumes. The crock pot or any generic slow cooker was the item to have during the eighties just behind the microwave. My mother mostly used the slow cooker to simmer beans, which to a Hispanic or Latino household was very important due to our custom of eating beans and rice as side dishes at most of our meals. I was accustomed to eating all sorts of beans but it was usually black beans, garbanzo beans or lentils.
One day I remember walking through the kitchen and smelled something unusual like something mixed between something putrid and the smell of meat. I had to look under the lid to see what it was. It did not look very appetizing to eat. The smell was very distinct. I still remember the long hours I spent at the table after everyone had finished with their meal. My mother would make me eat it anyway even after it had turned cold.
Now it is my turn to do this to my own children. And the strange thing now is that all of the sudden I appreciate cabbage and enjoy it whole lot more than I used to. I love sauerkraut on my hot dog and Rueben sandwich. I also love coleslaw which is mostly made up of shredded cabbage leaves. I also like cooked cabbage with corned beef, St. Patrick’s Day style. The more interested I get in eating cabbage the more I’ve been looking for different ways to prepare it.
Are there any vegetables that you have rediscovered?
When I was a kid, my North Carolina born-and-bred mother would boil cabbage with hunks of fatback in it. I loved it then, and I love it now. Once the cabbage was done, it was placed in a bowl on the table amid platters of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and scallions, a cake of crusty cornbread, and a pot of fresh green beans and boiled potatoes. The pot-liquor from the cabbage and beans would be spooned over the cornbread for an extra special treat. What a feast!! I haven’t made cabbage “Mama-style” in a very long time…but it’s a great memory of a wonderful time and delicious food.
Thank you for sharing your experience with cabbage with the rest of us. I will definitely try out the “Mama-Style” cabbage you described with some good ol’ southern style corn bread.