Cabbage – is one of the oldest of vegetables. An ancient Greek myth has the grape (wine) and cabbage at odds with each other, and so used by then adn later the Romans to cure or safeguard against drunken-ness. It is revered the whole over as a medicine and food. The English gave it a bad name in more recent times but over cooking (boiling) it and its pungent odour  permeates the house!!!  It is best lightly steamed with a little ghee or oil. Add at the end of cooking.

The cabbage family includes cauliflower, brussells sprouts, broccoli and kale.

Pickled as sauerkraut it is a medicine indeed and excellent for the digestion, internal fora, liver and bladder. It is specific for peptic ulcers, worms, depression and colds and coughs.

Vata should avoid it raw, always cooked with some oil. Pitta and kapha do well with it even as salad.

‘ “The time has come’ the Walrus said, “to talk of many things”,  “Of shoes – and ships-and sealing wax-Of cabbages-and kings-..” ‘. The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll