Cabbage

Cabbage is said to be the most nutritious of all Vegetables. It enters largely into the daily life of the Creoles, not only in the boiled and creamed and stuffed states, but also in that most delightful Creole dish, Gombo Choux. In many a Creole family of limited means the good dish of Gombo Choux and Rice, and a dish of Grillades, make not only a most appetizing and nutritious, but a most hearty meal. We have two crops of Cabbage in New Orleans, the summer and winter. It is said that when Cabbage is cooking the odor “fills the house.” But the Creoles overcome this by using a very large pot when boiling Cabbage, dropping in a bit of charcoal, and not filling it too near the brim, as the old Creole cooks say it is the boiling water that forms into steam and causes the odor. They also tie a piece of bread in a very fine and thin white piece of cloth. After it has been in the pot about twenty minutes, remove it and burn, for the odor of the Cabbage has clung to it. Repeat the process with a fresh piece of cloth and bread for about three-quarters of an hour.