Tablet Magazine - a new read on Jewish life

Cabbage does not appear in the Bible, but colewort—an ancestor of cabbage—is mentioned in the Talmud, where it claimed that colewort was healthful and sustaining and included it in “the six things that heal a person.” Today, the humble cabbage is one of the most widely grown vegetables in the world—one that’s been part of Jewish cuisine around the globe for centuries. Cabbage was much esteemed by the ancient Romans, who thought of it as a panacea and an elixir of youth. Hippocrates prescribed salted, boiled cabbage for colic. Apicus recommended it blanched, then simmered in oil with wine, cumin and coriander seeds, mint, rue, alisander (horse parsley), salt, pepper, and gravy, with the possible addition of sun-dried raisins, almonds, and olives. By the Middle Ages, cabbage had become a staple of the poor, especially in northern Europe. It was also one of the most used vegetables by Ashkenazi Jews, especially in the shtetls. ...

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