Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Overcooking is the bane of all brassicas, but it's a particular problem with brussels
sprouts. In the first place, most people don't cook them often enough to gain experience
with them. In the second place, because they're such dense little cabbages, even good
cooks sometimes feel the need to overcook them to tenderize them.
To treat brussels sprouts with respect, begin by shopping for the smallest sprouts you
can find. These will cook the fastest and have the sweetest flavor. When you're getting
them ready for cooking, be sure to remove any dark or damaged outer leaves and trim
away the dark, dried-out base of each sprout. Cut an X through the base 1/4 to 1/2 inch
deep, depending on the size of the sprout. This will allow the heat to penetrate to the heart
(where the offending chemicals are concentrated) but still hold the sprout together so you
don't wind up with a lot of loose leaves. When you cook the sprouts, never cook them
for more than 7 minutes during the initial heating. After that, you can actually smell the
change from sweet cabbage to sulfur begin. If you would rather blanch the sprouts in boil-
ing water, make sure there is plenty of it, to dilute any acids given off during cooking.
With cabbages, the solution is even easier. When preparing dishes using raw chopped
cabbage, simply soak the vegetable in cold water after cutting it up. This not only reviv-
ifies it and makes it crisper, but it also leaches out many of the chemicals that turn sul-
furous. These compounds are also reduced when cabbage is fermented into a pickle, as in
sauerkraut or kimchi. Boil cabbage briefly to reduce the amount of sulfur, and cook it in
plenty of water to dilute any that is created.
The thick, dense leaves have a slightly waxy texture, and these characteristics account
for much of the vegetable's enduring appeal. Because the leaves are so thick, they make
good containers and are easy to stuff, whether they have been blanched and softened (in
the well-known European fashion) or left raw and crisp (as in the less familiar Asian way
of using cabbage leaves as cups or wrappers for chopped mixtures). Because of the leaves'
density, when cooked they are at once sturdy and silky. Add ribbons of cabbage to a soup,
for example, and they will not only sweeten the broth but also turn the dish into a sort of
vegetable pasta. Combine that resiliency with the slightly waxy texture of the leaves, and
you understand why cabbage is the premier ingredient for salads such as coleslaw. Where-
as more delicate greens must be dressed at the last minute to avoid wilting, cabbage salads
actually improve as they sit.
There are many different kinds of cabbages, but they tend to fall into three general
categories: round, red and long-headed. Round cabbages are the most common and in-
clude the familiar smoothleaf white varieties as well as the crinkly-leaf green Savoy types.
These normally grow to a size somewhere between a softball and a volleyball, but some
