General Description/History

• A compact head formed by leaves
• Close relatives include brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower

Nutritional Value

An excellent source of vitamin C and dietary fibre 70kJ/100g.

Storage/Handling

0°C and 90 -100% relative humidity.

Consumer Storage: Store in an airtight plastic bag in the refrigerator crisper.

Interesting Facts and Myths?

In his epic poem “The Illiad”, .the Greek poet, Homer (who lived around 850 BC), mentions Achilles washing cabbages,

Although they look very different, cabbage, kale, broccoli, kohlrabi, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts are all the same species of plant. The differences between these plants are the results of thousands of years of human cultivation and selective propagation.

The Roman Emperor Claudius called upon his Senate to vote on whether any dish could surpass corned beef and cabbage. (The Senate voted a resounding nay!)

Cabbage is considered Russia’s national food. Russians eat about seven times as much cabbage as the average North American. Russian princes paid tributes not only with racing horses and jewels, but also with garden plots planted with kopusta, or cabbage.

Because cabbage requires only three months of growing time, one hectare of cabbage will yield more edible vegetables than any other plant.

The world’s largest cabbage is credited to William Collingwood of County Durham, England, whose prized cabbage in 1865 weighed in at 123 pounds (55.8 kilograms).

Sauerkraut is not German, it’s Chinese. It was eaten in China at least 200 years before Christ. When the Chinese were building the fifteen hundred mile long Great Wall of China, they sustained themselves on cabbage pickled in wine.

Captain Cook swore by the medicinal value of sauerkraut (cabbage preserved in brine) back in 1769. His ship doctor used it for compresses on soldiers who were wounded during a severe storm and thus prevented the development of gangrene.

Brussels Sprouts (a member of the cabbage family) were first grown in quantity around Brussels, Belgium during the 16th century, hence the name.

There is a legend told to children that babies come from Cabbage Patches.

There is an old tale that the Old Man in the Moon was banished to this remote abode after being caught stealing a cabbage from his neighbour on Christmas Eve.

Scrolls from 1000 BC uncovered in China mention white cabbage as a cure for baldness in men.

Greeks and Romans placed great importance on the healing powers of cabbage. They held that the vegetable could cure just about any illness. Roman mythology holds that cabbages sprung from the tears of Lycurgus, King of the Edonians.

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Botanical Name: Brassica oleracea ‘Capitata’ group

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Growing Areas: 

QLD – Cleveland, Lockyer Valley, Redland Bay, Stanthorpe
NSW – Bathurst, Camden, Dareton, Gosford, Griffith, Hunter Valley, Windsor
VIC – Mornington Peninsula, Werribee
TAS – North West
SA – Adelaide Hills, Adelaide Plains, Riverland
WA – Perth Metropolitan Outer Areas