Marrow stem cabbage

How well Marrow stem cabbage can taste and how healthy it is is so far only known to a few people. In Germany, marrow log cabbage has so far been mainly used as cattle feed and can be fed as a supplement, especially in autumn, when grass becomes scarce.

It is also often used as a green manure in agriculture in this country. The pith stem cabbage is also suitable for human consumption and contains quite a few healthy vitamins and minerals. It just has to be prepared correctly, then it can be turned into a delicious meal.

What you should know about marrow stem cabbage

Marrow stem cabbage tolerates the cold quite well. Therefore, in Germany, sowing outdoors is usually carried out in April long before the ice saints. It is very insensitive and tolerates both shady and very sunny locations just as well as extreme heat or cold without being much damaged.

The plants can grow up to 2 m high. Because marrow trunk cabbage is frost hardy, like kale, it can be harvested in the garden after the frost. In the Spanish region of Galicia, Turkey, Portugal, Italy and Greece, the healthy marrow-stem cabbage is found more frequently in regional cuisine than in Germany and is part of various traditional dishes there.

Because marrow trunk cabbage is rarely found in grocery stores, it is advisable to grow some yourself in the garden. As the above explanations show, this is not difficult, because marrow trunk cabbage grows very well under almost all conditions and produces an abundant harvest.

In modern times, the Internet provides information on how it can be prepared. It is therefore worthwhile to try out such recipes once and then perhaps let your imagination run wild to give this healthy vegetable a place in the kitchen in Germany as well.

Importance to health

Like all green leafy plants, pith stem cabbage is one of the vegetables that is particularly rich in vitamin K. Similar to kale, it is well suited as a winter vegetable and, as a healthy side dish, goes well with many things that can also be combined well with the more well-known kale.

Since marrow trunk cabbage can be brought in fresh even in winter when growing yourself in the garden, long transport routes and vitamin losses are eliminated. This means that this cabbage has the same advantages as the better-known kale. In addition to vitamin K, the contents of carotene, vitamin C, iron and magnesium in pith stem cabbage are not to be despised and ensure that the immune system is strengthened in these winter vegetables. Anyone who eats a portion of marrow-stemmed cabbage more often gets through the wet and cold season so much more healthy.

Ingredients & nutritional values

With only 32 calories per 100 g, pith stem cabbage is extremely low in calories and does not make you fat. 100 g contain 0.2 g of polyunsaturated fatty acids, 4 g of fiber, 213 mg of potassium, 5.019 µg of vitamin A in the form of carotene (this is a lot and more than in many other vegetables) 35.3 mg of vitamin C, 232 mg of calcium , 0.5 mg iron, 0.2 mg vitamin B6 and 27 mg magnesium. With these healthy ingredients it is a shame that marrow stem cabbage is still quite unknown in German cuisine.

Intolerances & allergies

All types of cabbage are healthy and not harmful. Too much cabbage can sometimes cause gas. If you don't overdo it with the enjoyment of cabbage and add a little caraway seeds to these dishes as a spice, you won't have any problems with that either.

Rather, all cabbage dishes are good for the stomach and intestines and also prevent high blood sugar levels, high cholesterol or even certain types of cancer such as colon cancer because they contain a lot of healthy fiber and ingredients. This also applies to marrow trunk cabbage. As with all foods, it is of course possible in rare cases that a single person may have an allergic reaction to marrow stem kale. Something like this has not yet become known.

Shopping & kitchen tips

If marrow trunk cabbage is grown in one's own garden, it can stay outside for as long as possible and be freshly harvested. Otherwise, it should be stored in a cool place, for example in a cellar or a garden shed, preferably with the roots. In the grocery trade, marrow stem cabbage is still a rarity today.

But anyone who wants to order it can now do so very well over the Internet in various feed shops, where it can be obtained very cheaply. The seeds are also easy to find anywhere if you want to grow marrow trunk cabbage in your own garden. If all of the marrow-stem cabbage is not used up in the kitchen, place the cabbage well wrapped in the refrigerator. Just like all other types of cabbage, it stays fresh there for a few days and can then be used for another meal.

Preparation tips

The leaves of marrow stem cabbage can be used very well for wrapping meat or other foods. The result is something similar to the cabbage rolls wrapped in white cabbage, which are very tasty. Marrow stem cabbage also tastes very good as sauerkraut. In this case it can be mixed well with some other types of cabbage and then gives the sauerkraut a very special flavor.

In southern cuisine, marrow trunk cabbage is often used in soups. Typical soups with marrow stem cabbage are, for example, the caldo verde, which is one of the national dishes in Portugal. Knee pork cabbage is an old dish with marrow trunk cabbage. Knieperkohl consists of a mixture with white cabbage, marrow stem cabbage, kale, grape leaves and cherry leaves. These include bacon, pork knuckle, pork pork or cabbage sausage as a meat side dish and, for example, jacket potatoes or fried potatoes as a further side dish. The Knieperkohl has an age-old tradition and originally comes from the Thirty Years War. When the white cabbage was becoming scarce at that time, the starving population resorted to fodder cabbage to make sauerkraut from it.

It soon became clear how delicious these leavened cabbage mixes taste, which are now called knee-perch cabbage and which still have many friends. Above all in Prignitz, a region that today belongs partly to Brandenburg, partly to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Knieperkohl has developed into a typical national dish that is still often cooked and is very popular there. Not only the leaves of the marrow trunk cabbage are good to use in the kitchen, but also the trunk. It's edible and very tasty. It is prepared in a similar way to kohlrabi and has a very similar taste to kohlrabi vegetables.