Roman cabbage with cumin and vinegar

Cato's brassica: boiled cabbage dressed with cumin, vinegar, and olive oil

Origin: Rome, Italy

From the journey of Cabbage.

The Roman statesman Marcus Porcius Cato (234–149 BCE), in his agricultural treatise De Agri Cultura (the oldest surviving work of Latin prose) devoted more words to the virtues of cabbage than to almost any other subject. He credited it with curing headache, insomnia, deafness, ulcers, wounds, and intoxication, and declared that the Romans owed their dominion over the Greeks partly to their superior diet of cabbage. 'Cabbage surpasses all other vegetables,' he wrote, without embarrassment. Roman cabbage preparations were typically boiled and dressed with olive oil, wine vinegar (posca), cumin, salt, and rue. The physician Apicius, in his 1st-century CE cookbook De Re Coquinaria (the oldest surviving culinary text), describes several preparations very close to this one. The Romans spread their brassica cultivation throughout their empire (from Britain to North Africa to the Levant) transforming the bitter coastal wild plant into the foundational vegetable of the European world. This recipe follows Apicius Book 3, Chapter 9, with minimal modern adaptation.

Ingredients

Cabbage

700 g green cabbage or curly kale, cut into quarters or large wedges

Dressing

3 tbsp good extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar

Spice

1.5 tsp ground cumin
0.5 tsp freshly ground black pepper
0.5 tsp ground coriander (optional, Apicius includes it)

Seasoning

1 tsp salt

Herbs

1 tbsp fresh mint or fresh rue (if available), finely chopped

Method

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the cabbage or kale wedges and cook for 8–10 minutes until completely tender: the Romans boiled their vegetables thoroughly, unlike modern practice. Drain well and press out any excess water.
Whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, cumin, pepper, coriander, and salt in a bowl.
While the cabbage is still hot, arrange on a serving plate and pour the dressing generously over it. The heat will help it absorb.
Scatter the fresh mint or rue over the top. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

This is deliberately a simple, austere dish, the everyday food of a Roman household, not a banquet piece. It is outstanding alongside grilled lamb, roasted pork, or simply with bread and olives. Cato recommended boiling the cabbage twice (discarding the first water to reduce bitterness), this is worth doing if using older, more mature cabbage. The second-boil version is sweeter and gentler. Garum (Roman fermented fish sauce) was sometimes added in place of or alongside salt; a small splash of good fish sauce or Worcestershire in the dressing is surprisingly effective.

The Gastrographer

Name: Roman cabbage with cumin and vinegar
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 700 g green cabbage or curly kale, cut into quarters or large wedges; 3 tbsp good extra-virgin olive oil; 2 tbsp red wine vinegar; 1.5 tsp ground cumin; 0.5 tsp freshly ground black pepper; 0.5 tsp ground coriander (optional, Apicius includes it); 1 tsp salt; 1 tbsp fresh mint or fresh rue (if available), finely chopped

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control