Cabbage

Cabbage has a history almost as long as the potato. Probably the most common variety in Britain is the Savoy. It arrived in Britain in the mid 1500s from the Netherlands, just as the potato was arriving in Europe. Before then we were eating a wild variety that apparently is still grown in Europe and northern Britain around the sea coasts. This was very different to the cabbages we now know. It was very bitter and consequently had a bad reputation. It took the Romans to develop the plant, taking away some of that bitter flavour but still only supplying the open-leafed kale variety and not the round ones of today. In the days of the bitter plant, it was eaten for medicinal purposes, apparently to be eaten with your drinks and prevent you from becoming drunk! It was the Dutch who mastered the cabbage as we know it; the titles Savoy and coleslaw both coming from Dutch names.