A simple restorative broth inspired by Atlantic coastal foraging traditions
Origin: Atlantic Coast, Western Europe
From the journey of Cabbage.
Wild cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. oleracea) grows naturally on the sea cliffs and limestone outcrops of the Atlantic coast (in Brittany, Cornwall, southern Ireland, and the Galician coast of Spain and Portugal) where it has done so for at least five thousand years. It is the ancestor of virtually every cultivated brassica in the world: from broccoli and kale to Brussels sprouts and kohlrabi. The wild plant is a sprawling, bitter, deeply flavoured thing (nothing like the neat pale heads of supermarket cabbage. Its leaves were almost certainly among the first green plants gathered and cooked by the Mesolithic and early Neolithic peoples who inhabited these coasts, boiled into broths and potages alongside shellfish, roots, and wild grains. This recipe is a contemplative reconstruction of that ancient tradition) a broth of wild or strongly flavoured greens, sea salt, and whatever was at hand along the shore. It is not a recipe so much as a gesture toward the very beginning of European vegetable cookery.
This broth is intentionally austere: it is meant to evoke a tradition of foraging and resourcefulness, not refinement. You can add a handful of barley, oats, or a small potato (anachronistic but comforting) to make it more substantial. Cavolo nero, sea kale (if you can find it), or very young pointed spring cabbage all work well. The key is choosing greens with genuine flavour and bitterness, not the pale, mild heads of modern supermarket cabbage.
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