Much to the delight of my budget and the reality of year-round menu planning in the subarctic, I am not one who gets sick of cabbage. Sure, sometimes I long for seriously leafy kale and bitter chicories come January, and I do settle for the limp storebought imports from time to time. Yet no matter the season, my heart and kitchen call for cabbage.
Come summer, I can’t get enough of the impressively massive, green, crisp Napa, bold Savoy, and mighty purple varieties—often the bigger the better. If you know, you know.
These are culinary tales of how cabbage can be crisp, it can be luscious, and it can be even downright funky when it comes to slaw, kraut, and kimchi. Bonus points go to this humble brassica for contributing to one’s daily intake of vitamins K and C, fiber, folate, and more.
Go ahead and stock up, sit back, and contemplate the months of slicing, braising, fermenting, stir-frying, and stewing all things cabbage ahead…
LOCAL CABBAGE SOURCES
Ann’s Greenhouses in Fairbanks
The Big M Farm in Nenana
South Anchorage Farmers Market in Anchorage
Tanana Valley Farmers Market in Fairbanks
First published in the Winter 2024 issue of Edible Alaska. Make Jessica’s cabbage recipes from the same issue:
Impromptu Miso Cabbage Slaw
Still-Winter Roasted Tomato, Garlic, and Cabbage Stew
