People say they hate cabbage all the time, but cabbage is really great. You can make slaw with it, you can ferment it into sauerkraut or kimchi, you can steam it for a side or to put in a sandwich, you can add it to any kind of filling or stuffing, or you can roll other stuff inside it, you can boil it in a soup, it gives a great flavor to vegetable broth, it's really nutritious and it keeps for much longer than other leafy greens.
this post was submitted on 27 Oct 2023
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Seems weird to me to hate cabbage, but I suppose there is a certain association with certain very bland cooking? Idk.
I garnered a very low opinion of pretty much all vegetables during childhood that persisted well into adulthood, because I grew up in a household that only ever prepared them one of two ways: raw, or boiled.
Doesn't matter what it was. Carrots, peas, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, green beans... the two exceptions being onions (which may have been fried on occasion) or potatoes (which culinarily aren't in the same category). If it was boiled, there'd be a half-assed attempt to make it taste like something again by melting a knob of butter on it and salting it. That's it.
When that's the extent of your culinary range, cabbage has no reason to enter the house, so for us it never did. We just assumed it would be shit if you prepared it that way. And we were probably right. Boiled cabbage is what the poor Bucket family was said to have eaten every day in Willy Wonka. Doesn't paint a glamorous picture.
I'm only just now coming around to the concept of vegetables tasting good when you, like, y'know, actually cook them well. Haven't given cabbage a fair shake yet, though.
Iβve become a cabbage hater. Cabbage soup smells like cabbage farts and it actually makes me gag.
I used to hate cabbage because my father boiled the crap out of it with corned beef every St. Patrick's Day. Disgusting.
Then I discovered stir fry, okonomiyaki, kimchi. Now it's a favorite.
Cabbage boiled with corn beef sounds legit amazing. Is that an Irish thing?
Irish-American, yeah.
Maybe it'd be better if it wasn't boiled into a limp mess. π
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I love most vegetables, but cabbage isn't one of them. I don't like any of the things you just mentioned.
If you havenβt tried cabbage and ham pie, you should. Itβs the Irish cousin of shepherds pie and itβs incredible.
Cut it stripes, some salt, fry in a pan and you can throw it over a lot of dishes.
Botanical fun fact: cabbage is just a variant of Brassica oleracea, which includes like every tasty vegetable on the planet: cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, kohlrabi, kale, collards, all kinds of cabbage shapes, colours and sizes, and more.
I'm a big fan of certain cabbage like napa. Also cole slaw with purple cabbage is pretty great.
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I quite like Brussels sprouts.
Since the late 90's Brussel Sprouts no longer taste bitter/bad. Some Dutch food scientists were able to isolate the bitter tasting chemical, find older variations of Brussel sprouts that had less of it, cross pollinate it with higher yield variations, and remove the bad taste.
That version is pretty much the only one you'll find to buy anywhere.
So basically it's everyone who had Brussels Sprouts pre 1999 who really universally hated them. The youngins never knew they used to taste like shit, and the old timers haven't tried them in over 25 years because they don't know they no longer taste like shit.
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Brussel sprouts. Lots of people hate them because they got them overcooked as children but they are so pretty and so delicious if prepared properly.
Fun fact: Brussel sprouts taste better now because the bitterness was intentionally selectively bred out of them in the '90s. They were, apparently, only bitter for a period of time because the ones that were easiest to mechanically harvest were bitter. Pre-mechanical harvesting, less bitter varieties were more popular.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/do-brussels-sprouts-taste-better-now-yes-here-s-why-01ghed9q8dr8
Dang. That answers a question I didn't even know how to ask. Thanks!
Went to a friend's house one day, she put salt and pepper on a tray of brussel sprouts, put in broiler for a short time. Changed my mind forever, delicious.
My dad used to sautee them with bits of bacon or prosciutto. I don't eat pork anymore, but god damn do I miss those Brussels sprouts.
Oh man cauliflower. I used to think cauliflower was broccoli's ugly sister but no way. Cauliflower is cheap, easy to grow, nutritious, and versatile.
Thanks for reminding me thereβs half in my fridge I forgot about. I donβt think itβs too late!
Actually on that, a good veg needs to last long in the fridge. Cauliflower hits that brief.
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I like beets for the same reason, but cabbage is underrated in its versatility. I'm making Romanian sarmale tomorrow with pork/beef/rice cabbage rolls: https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/sarmale/ . Much better than dolmas and the cabbage adds so much body and flavour to the dish.
I had never really used cabbage to wrap things. Thanks for the tip and idea
Popcorn
As a couch potato, I agree
I appreciate your enjoyment of turnips, but those ain't got shit on parsnips. Parsnips are amazing!
If you want a treat, mash chopped and boiled parsnips and carrots together for Thanksgiving instead of potatoes.
Parsnips are the devil's carrot. I have hated them with a passion since childhood.
So I read why they dropped out of popularity in Southern Europe following the arrival of the potato. It's because to be actually tasty and sweet, the parsnip plant needs to be hit by a hard frost - which presumably just doesn't happen in Southern Europe, and is probably why I can't very tasty parsnips these days in England - because we get fewer hard frosts.
Ah, as someone from New England and then Canada, I've certainly had frosty parsnips.
I was with you until you did potatoes dirty.
I feel like most of them. People hate on broccoli, but I think it's amazing. Zucchini is one of my favorites.
Moringa leaves. The tree's hardy and ecologically sustainable. The drumstick fruits and the pods are edible but the leaves are the most nutritious. It also has the highest protein among leafy greens.
In south and south east asia, we consider it medicinal. But actually, it's just nutritious. We feed them in soup form to malnourished people and nursing mothers.
I just looked this one up. I have never had this vegetable before
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Courgettes / zucchini I can eat them raw, shredded, souped, fried, the lot
And you can have them for free in Canada when the season is right. Seriously, there's jokes about people only locking their door to keep unwanted zucchinis out.
I wish I liked them. They seem so useful and plentiful, but they taste so utterly interesting to me. Yes, if they are slathered in oil and perfectly grilled and seasoned, they are fine. But then again what isn't.
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Zucchini is also good grilled. Good stuff
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Spinach. Its amazing. Kale same deal. Its all in how its prepared.
Celery. Chop it up finely and add to sauces and stews; great in bolognaise for added umami flavour.
Also carrots, cooked and blended into sauces and gravy, adds sweetness. And donβt forget carrot cake, which surprisingly does not taste of carrots, but they give it a real moistness.
Green beans. My wife keeps growing different kinds of beans and I find myself yearning for the perfect green pods. Scarlet Runner was surprisingly fantastic last year, eaten green. This year she grew Yard Long beans and those were wonderful too.
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Jicama is delicious cut up into little strips and eaten raw. Never cooked with it though
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Bitter melon. Love the stuff. Stir fry with burned garlic and oyster sauce.
Betel leaves too. Stir fry them with beef slices and black pepper, and maybe some sauce.
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Shallots. Itβs an onion-garlic but tastes better.
Rutabaga! Buttery and delicious. I can't understand why people don't like it.
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