Cabbage : “Chou” is a noun vernacular ambiguous designating in French certain leafy plants of the family of Brassicaceae. Those are vegetables groceries. Most cabbages have leaves super-hydrophobic (*) which give them self-cleaning capabilities.
Cabbages are mainly classified in the genus Brassica. The best known species is the common cabbage and its multiple cultivated varieties.
(*) Hydrophobic: That thewater don't get wet.
Vegetable from vegetables, the prehistoric cabbage with countless varieties was cultivated as early as 7000 BC.
Le sea kale (or maritime), which grows in the wild, has been known in Europe for more than 4000 years. This common cabbage, appreciated for its medicinal properties, was quickly integrated into the diet, where it formed the basis of soups. Through cultivation and selection, it gave rise to different vegetables : kale, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower et broccoli et kohlrabi, cabbage white, green or Red.
Savoy cabbage from Pontoise in the Paris region is one of the best kale in France.
Chinese cabbages were introduced to France in the XNUMXth century. We also give the name “cabbage” to different plants cultivated in the Antilles, bud terminal of a palm tree (palm kale) and at the the root an arum (Caribbean cabbage).
Quote from the French writer and philosopher Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592): “Je want, about à soft, which la mort me find planting month cabbage, indifferent à sa venue, et more yet à the obligation in which elle me will de let mon gardening unfinished » .
Most common varieties and species of cabbage in human food :
Brussels sprouts - Brassica olearacea var. gemmifera
Chinese cabbage or Pe-Tsaï – Brassica rapa L. subsp. pekinensis
Cabbage - Brassica oleracea var. capital
Cabbage - Brassica oleracea var. viridis
Chinese cabbage or Pak-choy - Brassica rapa L. subsp. chinensis
Common cabbage - brassica oleracea
Broccoli cabbage - Brassica oleracea. italica
Cauliflower - Brassica oleracea. botrytis
Chou frisé - Brassica oleracea var. sabellica L.
Kerguelen cabbage - Pringlea antiscorbutica
Palm cabbage - Brassica oleracea palmifolia
Cabbage quintal - Brassica oleracea var. capital
Kohlrabi - Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes
Romanesco cabbage - Brassica oleracea. botrytis
Red cabbage - Brassica oleracea var. capita f. rubra
Sea cabbage - Crambe maritime
Savoy cabbage - Brassica olearacea var. sabauda
Kale cabbage - Brassica olearacea var. oleracea
Perennial cabbage - Brassica olearacea var. ramosa
Note: Do not confuse the cabbage palm with the palm kale which designates the bud terminal of certain palm trees, consumed as vegetable but which has nothing in common with the Brassicaceae.
See below the table of characteristics of the main types of cabbage.
View illustrated list of cabbage varieties.
See Culinary uses of cabbage.
See as well Cabbage under Mouth slang.
Characteristics of the main types of cabbage
Type | Origin | Era | Look |
---|---|---|---|
Brussels sprouts | Belgium, Nord-Pas de Calais, Finistère, Val-de-loir | October - March | buds similar to small headed cabbages, 2 to 4 cm in diameter, located along the stem |
Chinese cabbage | |||
Pak choy | Eastern Pyrenees, green belt of cities | end of December - end of March | similar to a small chard stalk topped with conch-shaped green leaves |
Pé-tsaï | Loire Valley, Orléanais, Pyrénées-Orientales, green belt of cities | end of June - mid-December | similar to romaine lettuce with thin leaves, whitish at the base and pale green at the top |
Cauliflower | |||
White, purple, yellow cauliflower | Britain | all year | very white or greenish-yellow or yellow inflorescence, or deep purple or miniature |
the Channel | end of September - end of June | ||
Provence | October - end of December | ||
Nord Pas de Calais | mid-June - mid-October | ||
Romanesco cauliflower | Italy Britain | autumn winter August - December | green inflorescence, forming fractals |
Green cauliflower | Italy, Spain Britain | autumn winter August - December | green inflorescence |
Cabbage-turnips | |||
Cabbage-turnips | East, Auvergne, Brittany | September - March | large root with white flesh |
rutabaga | green belt of cities | September - March | large spherical root with yellow flesh |
Headed cabbage | |||
White cabbage | the whole of France, Holland | April | Ball, pale green exterior, white interior, small to medium sized cabus with smooth leaves |
Savoy green cabbage | the whole of France | all year | with curly blistered leaves or cabus |
Red cabbage | green belt of cities | all year | cabus with red leaves, round or oval, rather small to medium |
Sauerkraut cabbage or quintal | Champagne (Aube), Alsace, Sarthe | end of September - end of October | white, large, spherical, cabus-like |
Kohlrabi | Franche-Comté, green belt of cities | June - March | greenish or purplish ball |
Green cabbage leavess | green belt of cities | all year | green kale leaves |