Attack of the Cabbage

I hate cabbage.  I don’t know where my aversion for this plant started, but I think it’s related to the marketing of Cabbage-Patch Kids back in the mid-1980’s.  I mean, why would you want to associate kids with a pot of boiling water?  

[Source: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mcgur024/curriculumtopics5150/kids.jpg]

-This image freaks me out...I will remove this picture upon request-

Well, thanks to Coleco, Hasbro, and Mattel, I refuse to eat this chemical abomination.  Even as a component in many of my favorite recipes (fish tacos, corned beef, egg rolls), I’m still not a big fan.  It’s bitter, pungent, and relative cousins of this vegetable became the inspiration of the chemical agent, Mustard Gas.  So you’re probably wondering, why write about the cabbage family?  Best said by Sun Tzu, there’s no better way to win a battle than to “know thy enemy.” 

The first cabbages originated along the Mediterranean and began its domestication around 2,500 years ago.  As a venerable chemical warrior, cabbages survive well in cold, salty, and sunny environments and its popularity grew allowing it to be a staple across Eastern Europe and Asia.  The physiology of this plant is a bit strange (more reason to dislike it…ok I kid).  What’s refer to as the “core” or “heart” is actually the stem, and the leaves grow outward forming the “head.”

There are many relatives of this astringent family that notably include Kale, Brussels sprouts, Mustard Greens, and Horseradish.  The flavor comes from two kinds of defensive chemicals in the cells, the flavor precursors (called Glucosinolates) and the products created by enzymes that act on the precursors.  You can imagine enzymes as proteins that consume one substance to create a new product; they eat the precursor and create a new substance…in this case, a foul, malodorous one.  Onions, and other relatives of the Allium genus, work in the same manner, but with different enzymes. 

[Source: http://ayeshahaq.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/cabbage.jpg]

Each given member in the cabbage family contains a different number of glucosinolates and attribute to the different flavors in each vegetable.  This is why cabbage, brussels sprouts, and broccoli have similar, but distinctive flavors.  The chemical defense system is most active when the plant is young and increases when environmental stress of heat is placed on the vegetable.  Because of this, there will be lower concentrations of the chemicals in the cool autumn or frigid winter.

The chopping of the cabbage releases the flavor compounds created by the enzymatic reaction (a term I thought I’d never use outside of college).  The breaking of the cell wall signals the plant to increase production of the precursor; as if the plant’s alarm system activates.  This might sound a bit strange, but imagine this.  Every plant wants to survive, grow, and reproduce to create more cabbage children.  Well, when an animal bites into the cell wall (or in our case, chops with a chef knife); the cabbage responds by not only have products created by the enzyme to attack the animal, but it creates more ammunition to thwart the attack.  Oh you crafty chemical warrior.

Enzymatic activity generally increases with a rise in temperature meaning more generation of the fetid odor.  However, activity capacity occurs around 140F and the enzyme begins to denature in boiling water.  Submerging your cabbage in hot water prevents the creation of the by-products while maintaining the flavor of the glucosinolates.  However in some species such as mustard greens, intense cooking actually minimizes the “hot/pungent” flavors while sustaining the bitter aromas.  But the real nasty stuff comes with overcooking, where the sulfuric compounds transform into trisulfides; this smell is reminiscent of a convalescent home.  

I'm not down for cabbage-patch kids...on the other hand, I'm totally down for sour-patch kids.