THE FOLKLORE OF PLANTS: Cabbage

Lisa Karen Miller

          Pork with cabbage is the requisite New Year’s dish for those of German heritage.  In Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, sauerkraut and caraway seed are added to slow-cooked pork to ensure plenty in the coming year.  Some even put wrapped coins in the cabbage to make sure money won’t be short.

          Irish maidens, ever curious about what their husbands would be like, would pull the first cabbage from the garden and taste it.  If it was sweet, so would be the spouse.  If sour, they were in for a long and trying marriage.

          I wonder if they ever pulled another one on the sly?

          Many of us consider corned beef and cabbage a traditional Irish meal.  It is in fact an invention of Irish immigrants in 19^th century America.  Boiled bacon and cabbage was standard fare for them back home, but they couldn’t find their type of bacon (more like what we call Canadian bacon) in the New York tenement neighborhoods. The closest they could find was the corned beef available in Jewish delis, so they improvised.

          In the British Isles, cabbage was eaten for fertility.  Scottish children used to ask the fairies for a new brother or sister by placing cabbage leaves around the entrance to their homes on Halloween. This may be the origin of the following.

The tale parents used to tell children when they asked where they came from – “Oh, we found you in the cabbage patch, my dear” – was the impetus of the Cabbage Patch Kids doll craze of the 1980s and beyond.

          Women traditionally cut a cross in the base of cabbage and Brussels sprouts before cooking.  This was because tiny demons could be hiding among the leaves; if swallowed, they would cause indigestion.  It could also be because this helps them cook more thoroughly inside, thereby preventing any tummy ache.

          In the garden, celery, dill, onions, and potatoes are good companions for cabbage.  It doesn’t get along so well with strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, rue, grapes, lettuce, or pole beans.

          Clover interplanted with cabbage reduces the cabbage aphid and worm populations, while planting chamomile next to it improves both growth and flavor.

          In addition to being low in calories and a favorite of dieters, it is high in fiber and antioxidants.  It also is anti-inflammatory and helps to stabilize blood sugar. It also reputedly can keep you cool: Babe Ruth wore a cabbage leaf under his baseball cap to keep his head cool while playing out in the hot sun.

Make friends with cabbage for health and wealth in each new year.

© Copyright 2023 Lisa Karen Miller