| 
Cabbage,
chinese (pak-choi),
Scientific Name: Brassica
rapa (Chinensis Group)
wong bok, celery cabbage,
Chinese leaves, napa, Peking/Shantung,
Tientsin cabbage, pe-tsai, michihili
Chinese
Cabbages
The name "Chinese
cabbage" is a confusing one and
tends to include all cabbages originally
grown in China and recently introduced
to the west. Unlike the four previously
mentioned cabbage varieties, Chinese
cabbages belong to the species Brassica
rapa, a group which also includes
turnips and spinach mustard.
Chinese cabbage varieties are notably
stronger in flavour and faster growing
than other members of the cabbage
family. Chinese cabbages resemble
the drumhead in that the leaves comprise
the bulk of the plant, but the head
of the Chinese cabbage is more loosely
packed, with fewer leaves being produced.
There are two main Brassica subspecies
that are classified as Chinese cabbages,
Brassica rapa var. pekinensis and
Brassica rapa var. chinensis.
• Brassica rapa
var. pekinensis is also called the
Chinese cabbage, celery cabbage, napa
cabbage, hakusai, wong bok and Peking
cabbage. The predominant variety has
crinkly, thickly veined leaves that
are cream-colored with celadon green
tips. Unlike the strong-flavoured
waxy leaves on round heads of plain
old cabbage, these are thin, crisp
and delicately mild.
• Brassica rapa
var. chinensis is known as Chinese
white cabbage, bok choy, pak choi
(pak choy), bok celery, celery mustard
and white mustard cabbage. It is a
mild, versatile vegetable with crunchy
white stalks and tender, dark green
leaves. It resembles a bunch of wide-stalked
celery with long, full leaves.
History and
Facts:
Chinese or celery cabbage resembles
celery or romaine more than it does
the traditional headed cabbage. It
is a crisp vegetable that has been
used extensively by Orientals for
generations in the preparation of
cooked dishes. In recent years, Chinese
cabbage has grown considerably in
popularity because it's bulky and
economical. It is used primarily as
a salad vegetable in North America.
A
staple food of rich and poor
The cultivation of cabbage goes back
4000 years. Between China and Mongolia,
horsemen learned to preserve this
vegetable in brine and it became the
staple food of the builders of the
Great Wall of China in the third century
BC. Later, pickled cabbage arrived
in Europe from the East, carried by
Hun and Mongol cavalcades.
While these horsemen
introduced a new conservation method
and Barbarian flavour to Europe, cabbage
had nonetheless long been the favourite
vegetable of an entire continent,
particularly until the introduction
of the potato. In fact, the Celts
may have introduced cabbage to the
British Isles as early as the 4th
century BC. For centuries, cabbage
was a staple that sustained European
populations during great famines.
During the Hundred Years War, battles
were won or lost depending on whether
fresh provisions of cabbage had arrived
at the soldiers' camps.
During the ancient Roman
period, demand for cabbage was so
strong that the price sometimes went
sky-high. The austere Cato advocated
health through cabbage and fed his
entire household on it.
Taillevent, the famous
cook to France's Charles VI, would
prepare numerous cabbage dishes for
his royal master. One variety that
he used, Senlis cabbage, has since
disappeared. But Queen Catherine de
Medici deserves credit for the wide
variety of cabbages to be found in
France; it was she who brought in
white, red and green varieties, some
with tightly closed heads, others
pink and loose-leafed, as well the
famous Savoy cabbage.
It was the French explorer Jacques
Cartier who first introduced cabbage
to North America, planting it on his
third voyage to New France in 1542.
Early in the following century, English
and Dutch settlers would also bring
cabbage with them to the American
colonies.
Louis XIV liked to walk
in the royal gardens designed by Lenôtre
where flowers, fruits and vegetables
grew harmoniously side by side. One
day, conversing with his master gardener,
the king said, "I would like
to ennoble you. What do you want for
a coat of arms?" The simple country
man, more interested in the opening
up of a bud than in worldly honours,
laughingly replied, "Sire, three
snails topped by a cabbage stalk would
be enough for me."
|
