Cooking Cabbage – Don’t Forget the Caraway Seed

Cooking cabbage is easy and it’s a great taste treat with caraway seed.

When cooking cabbage, I have a simple rule, it’s don’t forget the caraway seed. If you smell caraway seed and think of cabbage, you can tell that they naturally go together. Although caraway seed is more akin to carrots and parsley, and cabbage is one of the cruciferous vegetables, they seem to get along quite well in the fry pan when I put them with butter, onions, garlic and a little salt. Gently fried cabbage is one of my favorite dishes.

Many prefer traditional cabbage dishes like sauerkraut or coleslaw, but if you haven’t tried it fried, you might be in for a pleasant surprise. Don’t overcook it or it will turn to mush on you. Also, try finely slicing cabbage as a nice addition to a fresh salad. I think you’ll like that too.

Bulk caraway seed is the most economical way to go for caraway seed enthusiasts.

Friends of mine in Texas are always surprised when I serve them fried cabbage. They expect cabbage to be a cold dish. They’re equally surprised when they taste the caraway seed. One of my friends down there ran out to the store and bought caraway seed after he tasted our fried cabbage dish. He then promptly placed it on a shelf in the kitchen, and most likely it will never be used as he’ll probably wonder, “Why in the world did I buy that?” Be that as it may, it’s clearly a vote for hot cabbage cooked with caraway seed as a flavoring.

So, the next time you’re up for a nice vegetable, try cooking cabbage with caraway seed, much like you might put poppy seed in your muffins. It adds a nice flavor that only gets better if you let the leftovers sit in the refrigerator for a day or so before you reheat them.

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Clair Schwan is more of an eater than a cook, but he knows his way around in the kitchen. His trick to getting herbs and spices to match the food is simply to smell and taste them and then imagine what foods they might enhance and complement.