Crushed cabbage leaves are one of the most widely used anti-inflammatory remedies in Polish folk medicine. Cabbage, due to its specific properties, has been used in natural medicine mainly for rheumatic pain, vein and lymphatic vessel inflammation, bruises, sprains, mastitis or gastrointestinal problems.
- The Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Cabbage Leaves Explained by the Influence of bol-miRNA172a on FAN Expression. Front Pharmacol, National Library of Medicine, NIH
There are a few things that I wanted to mention in last week’s post, like gnocchi dough benefits from a bit of a rest in the fridge or on a cool counter and that the walnut pesto will last up to a week in the fridge (I believe I didn’t mention that), but doing basic things, like preparing meals and typing on a computer have been a struggle since we arrived home from Italy.
A few days after we landed, I woke up with a terrible pain in the back of my neck. This has never happened before. It made me feel nauseous and a bit off-centre all week, but there were no other symptoms. Once Covid was ruled out, I decided that it might be a virus building or even a strange blast of hormones, but the pain persisted. With my neck wrapped tightly in a wool scarf and anti-inflammatory medication providing a bit of relief, I still wonder what might have been the cause? Was it the 14 hours of travel from one rural space to another with heavy bags and an animal hanging off my shoulders? Or could it have been the lifting of a young but now very heavy child who needed to be comforted before or after the gentle yoga session and spinal twists on a cold floor. The cause may remain a mystery, but the effect is not and getting through this week has given me a renewed appreciation for people who try to get though everyday life raising families or not with disease and chronic pain.
There are recent publications like the New York Times Best Seller The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk and When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress by Dr. Gabor Maté which are helping us to develop a new consciousness when it comes to listening to our bodies and in helping us to understand when it is time to slow down, de-stress and stay warm.
Modern society tells us that we need to be moving, plotting and achieving from the moment we open our eyes on New Year’s Day, with commercialism contributing and benefitting from this hamster wheel. Of course, it’s great to get your planning and thinking caps on, but for those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere, nature tells us that these winter months are a period of incubation, of sleeping, of self-care, of dreaming, of listening or even just being. What happens in the dark, underground in stillness, will eventually burst and grow toward the sun in the months to come. Everything in nature rests, we are part of this rhythm, and so is the perfect food that grows to nourish us during this time.
“Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food.” said Hippocrates, but when we are unwell, it can be hard to prepare healing food for ourselves, never mind the others and lack of appetite due to whatever ails is often a challenging thing. As I quickly smeared jam on bread and put fish fingers in the oven, I duly ignored the lone and lovely bright green head of Savoy cabbage that seemed to be waving to me from the edge of the kitchen counter. Then I sat down and embraced it and with its healing promise it became three delicious and quite economic things. A salad, a braised side dish and a minestra.
I don’t know about you, but I have pivotal food moments catalogued in my brain, and the first card for cabbage exists in my teens where Filomena D’Amato from a village not far from Pompeii served me a plate of braised cabbage and it blew my tastebuds. I didn’t know cabbage could be cooked this way, didn’t understand how to make it myself, and like a lover passing in the night, I didn’t know when or where I could find it again. The next pivotal moment in the cabbage cards can be pulled from the months that I spent in Trento in my late twenties where I came to understand that the core of a cabbage, which most people would throw away, could also become a quick and moreish salad to compliment most of the winter things.
Living in Ireland, and growing up in an Irish family, a head of cabbage is no stranger to me. Boiled in a pot with meat, usually corned beef or ham, cabbage is usually associated with cuisine that springs forth from colder climates. We find many cabbage recipes in Italy’s Northern Regions, but cabbage is also present in the cooking of the South. I found it quite interesting to learn that Neapolitans were historically known as Mangiafoglie (leaf eaters) for their diets of greens and meat before they became known as Mangiamaccheroni (pasta eaters). These leafy greens would have included varieties of cruciferous vegetable including cabbage. The simple preparation for the cabbage salad that I learned up North, can also be found in Central Italy as part of the traditional cuisine of La Sabina.
As Pier Francesco Lisi writes in his book, 101 buoni alimenti che si prendono cura di noi:
“It took more than 2,000 years for science to demonstrate the health benefits of cabbage. Greeks and Romans, however, already knew them: they used this plant of the Brassicaceae or Cruciferae family only as a cure. All cabbages, as well as broccoli, are part of a single species, Brassica oleracea, and are descended from wild cabbage.
The father of medicine, Hippocrates, considered it a vegetable with a thousand virtues; even Pythagoras, who was a vegetarian, praised it. Marco Porcio Cato, known as the Censor, believed that the austere spirit of republican Rome was jeopardised by the lascivious customs of the Greeks. He also hated doctors, most of them Greek: for this reason he praised cabbage which, by itself, would have allowed the Romans to do without all doctors.
Today cabbage and broccoli are recognised for their protective virtues.
It is ideal is to eat raw cabbage and even if it may seem difficult, you can remedy this with juice, considered a real drug in natural medicine, useful as a tonic and in case of anemia, ulcers, gastritis, liver cirrhosis and an infinite series of problems.”
Both regular and Savoy cabbages work for these recipes.
A Little Cabbage Salad
Serves 2 DF, GF + V
Ingredients:
2 large handfuls of finely chopped cabbage
1 handful of toasted walnuts
A generous shaving of hard or semi-hard cheese*
Olive oil
Apple cider vinegar
Sea salt + black pepper
Method:
Use a sharp knife or kitchen mandoline to finely chop the core of your cabbage until you have about two large handfuls of leaves. Add them to a bowl and dress them with generous drizzle of olive oil, a few good splashes of apple cider vinegar, sea salt and a generous sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper. Leave it to macerate a bit while you toast your walnuts (or not). Toss the leaves, check for seasoning, add the walnuts to the bowl, shave in your cheese and serve. Drop the cheese and it’s vegan.
Notes:
This salad is good, as traditional cooking recommends, as basic leaves dressed with oil, vinegar, salt and generous gratings of black pepper, but I enjoy the addition of walnuts, cheese and sometimes even a freshly grated apple.
Cheese such as Asiago, Caciotta, Grana Padano, Gruyère, Parmigiano Reggiano, Pecorino, Provolone or Scamorza would work in this salad. Here I used a semi-hard Irish goats cheese which more than did the trick.
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Braised Cabbage
Serves 4-6 DF, GF + V
Ingredients:
1 large onion finely sliced
400g outer cabbage leaves sliced into ribbons
2 liters of beef, lamb or vegetable broth
Olive oil
Sea salt + black pepper
Method:
Warm your broth in a medium pot then cover the bottom of a shallow wide heavy bottomed pan with a thin film of olive oil. Add the onion, lightly season and a gently sauté over low heat occasionally stirring until the onions are soft and golden. Add the cabbage tossing gently, season again, add a ladle or two of broth, toss and then cover cooking over a medium low heat topping up the broth as it runs low. Keep a good eye on the pan and add more broth and stir if the vegetables begin to stick. Serve when the vegetables have reached your desired consistency about 20-30 minutes. (I like mine really soft). Check the seasoning before serving.
Notes:
This side has a gorgeous concentrated flavour that will suit meat, poultry and even a sturdy piece of fish but it is best enjoyed with pork. Alternatively it is lovely served up on a slice of bruschetta topped with the cheese that you bought for your salad. Better if you melt it. See notes above. I love the flavour of beef broth here, but you can substitute vegetable broth and ditch the cheese for a dairy free, gluten free and vegan dish.
***
A Minestra of Cabbage and Rice
Serves 4 DF, GF
100-200g of braised cabbage, chopped
2 liters+ of beef, lamb or vegetable broth
50g of Arborio rice
1 clove of garlic, roughly chopped
1 small onion, chopped
160g pancetta affumicata, diced
A splash of white wine
1 fresh bay leaf
Olive oil
Sea salt + black pepper
Finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano to serve
Method:
Add a drizzle of olive oil to the bottom of a medium heavy bottomed pot. Add your pancetta and your bay leaf and cook over medium low heat until it starts to colour. Remove the pancetta from pan (leave the bay) and add your onion and garlic to the fat cooking on low until translucent. Return the meat the pan, add your rice to coat in the vegetables, turn the heat up a little to lightly toast the rice and then add a splash of white wine. After a few minutes add your broth, and then your cabbage. I remove the bay leaf here so that it doesn’t become overpowering. Bring the minestra to a boil and then gently simmer for about 20 minutes. Check for seasoning. Serve with a fresh grating of Parmigiano or Pecorino Romano.
Notes:
I used the leftovers of the braised cabbage to make this minestra, and I also repurposed the leftover beef broth by topping it up with some boiling water. This minestra doesn’t look like much, but trust me, like any liquor that comes from the boiling of cabbage, it is satisfying and full of flavour.
I had a few scratchings of rice to use, but this minestra can live without it. Italian beans also make a great addition. Remember the toasted bruschetta with melted cheese? You can pop that on top of your steaming bowl as well.