Everyone becomes a little bit Irish on March 17. It’s the day we enjoy the traditional corned beef and cabbage and green beer of St Patrick’s Day. All over the world, thousands of kettles of cabbage will be boiled with beef (or bacon or ham or potatoes) for a traditional feast.
We need to go back to the old country to understand how cabbage became entwined with Irish food traditions. Cabbage gained its fame in 17th century Ireland because many farmers and rural poor relied on it for food during that time period. It was nutritious, grew well in the climate and was cheap to produce. During the great “Potato Famine” in 1845 when blight nearly wiped out the entire potato crop, many turned to cabbage for survival instead, eating an average of 65 pounds per person per year.
Although corned beef and cabbage is considered a traditional Irish dish now, the meal was more likely cabbage served with bacon or ham in the beginning. Pork was much more affordable in rural Ireland than cured beef which was considered to be a luxury for the wealthier classes.
As Irish immigrants came to America to escape poverty and famine, they brought their food preferences and recipes with them. In America, many Irish immigrants settled in large cities like New York and Boston, often near Jewish communities. There they had trouble finding bacon so they substituted the plentiful and affordable corned beef of their Jewish neighbors.
It’s reported that the bars of New York in the early 20th century would offer free dinners of corned beef and cabbage to Irish workers who came in after laboring all day on building sites in the city. It was a profitable situation since the meal was relatively cheap to prepare and the workers would still have to buy drinks to get their free (salty and thirst-inducing) dinner.
If you enjoy an Irish holiday feast that includes cabbage, you won’t be alone. St. Patrick’s Day is the biggest holiday for fresh green cabbage consumption in America, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
But don’t limit your intake of cabbage to just one day a year. There are countless ways to prepare it and it is so good for you. It belongs to the family of cruciferous vegetables– plants named for the four equal-sized petals in its flowers resembling a cross– which trace their roots to a wild mustard ancestor. The family also includes broccoli, brussel sprouts, bok choy, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, rutabagas and turnips, to name just a few. No other vegetable group is as high in vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid and fiber as cruciferous vegetables. As a group, one reference called them simply “superstars of good nutrition.”
Besides their conventional nutrients, cabbage-family vegetables are also very high in phytonutrients with powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties which can help to reduce the risk of certain cancers.
Cabbage and its cruciferous relatives are versatile, too. It’s difficult to find another vegetable family in which as many different parts of the food are consumed. We commonly eat the flowers of the plants (for example, cauliflower and broccoli), the leaves and leaf buds (kale, collard greens, cabbage and Brussels sprouts), the stems and stalks (kohlrabi and bok choy), the roots (turnips, radishes and rutabagas) and the seeds (such as mustard seeds.)
With an abundance of nutrients and disease-fighting compounds provided at an extremely economical price, cabbage should be eaten more than once a year. Add some to your favorite salads, soups, stews, casseroles, main dishes and side dishes to reap huge benefits. After all, cabbage isn’t just for St. Patrick’s Day– its benefits should be enjoyed year round.
Linda K. Beech is Ellis County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.