[tobybeacon]

Hi Everyone,

My first posting to this website.

This is the end of the first 12 month period of having an allotment.
We planted some cabbages late spring (I think they were early autumn variety).  They now look big enough to eat so we have tried some.
However - both cabbages that we have cooked smell really horrible - as in pongy.  Does anyone know if this could be bacause they are not yet ready to eat and need time to 'grow a bit more'?

We have had quite a bad attack of whitefly, so could this be a contributing factor to this?

By the way, as the cabbage smelled so horrible, we did not even attempt to eat them.  When the kids come home from school, the first thing they said when they came through the door was 'whats that stinky smell', to which I replied ' its only our healthy home grown cabbage from our allotment'.

Has anyone else had this problem?  



 :oops:  :oops:

[Heather_S]

Did you cut it open? Maybe it had caterpillars or slugs inside (ew!)

[John]

Cabbage can be a bit strong smelling - this will vary according to the variety and I think that 'home grown' on rich soil absorbs more minerals, which might be the reason your cabbage smells strong.

Can I suggest you try this cooking method - no guarantee but give it a try.

Take a heavy bottomed pan with a tight fitting lid and melt a good knob of butter in the base over a gentle heat. Add a good handful of cabbage cut / shredded.
Stir it around to coat the cabbage with the butter then sprinkle with salt and pepper whilst turning up the heat. Add a tablespoon of lemon juice (I just use jif) and when the temperature has risen to the point where things are steaming turn down to minimum and put the lid on.
After a couple of minutes, lift the lid and stir to stop things burning then replace the lid and turn off the heat.

It works for me and doesn't stink up the house.

[tobybeacon]

Hi John,

I had steamed the cabbage, which may make it smell more when it is cooking.

I will try to cook it as you have suggested and experiment a bit.  I've got nothing to lose as I have about another twenty cabbages to experiment with.
I will get the children to sample the cooking first which can be a task in itself.

In reply to the other posting,  when I cut the cabbage in half, it looked quite healthy apart from an odd slug on the outer leaves.

[James]

Letting it grow longer will just increase the strength of flavour.

How does it taste raw?  

I suggest that you cooked it for too long.  I'd go with John's recipe - just fry the cabbage for long enough to get it hot and begin to wilt & serve immediately.

If you're starting to cook it before the children come home from school you're cooking it for too long!

[Ian_P]

Hi,
We did something similar with red cabbage. Two that we steamed were strong smelling and tasting horrible. Two that we boiled (with some apple, cinnamon and raisins) were delicious.

Maybe you can't steam cabbage.

Thoughts?

[tobybeacon]

I just had a chance to re-visit my post since the other day.  I will let you all know when I get around to cooking some more cabbage and what the results are.  On the note of steaming cabbage, I have always steamed my cabbage, and the smell has never been to strong or offputting. This was the first home grown cabbage that I had cooked, maybe the mass produced cabbages just don't have the same intensity of aroma/flavour.

[GrannieAnnie]

I sometimes steam my cabbage, but haven't noticed a really bad smell.  However, OH likes his cabbage boiled to bits, so I can't always get away with steaming it!!!!