{"id":1783,"date":"2005-01-13T07:04:00","date_gmt":"2005-01-13T07:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elitemporaryblog.wordpress.com\/2005\/01\/13\/outline-of-a-theory-of-cabbage"},"modified":"2017-02-12T01:58:09","modified_gmt":"2017-02-12T06:58:09","slug":"outline-of-a-theory-of-cabbage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/01\/outline-of-a-theory-of-cabbage\/","title":{"rendered":"Outline of a Theory of Cabbage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Be warned: I\u2019m baring my geek stripes. If you\u2019re of weak constitution, please avert your eyes.<\/p>\n

Since our lengthy discussion of souffl\u00e9<\/a>, I\u2019ve spent a lot of time thinking about cabbage. After all, whenever I\u2019m plotting a souffl\u00e9 for dinner, cabbage inevitably shows up, usually bringing its posse of caraway seeds, vinegar, and an apple or two. It doesn\u2019t take much to convince me to eat this humble crucifer, and anyway, the unctuous, dairy-rich egginess of a cheese souffl\u00e9 truly has no better match than the sweet-tart earthiness of braised cabbage. I think a lot about these sorts of things, and about social science. And that\u2019s where things get geeky.<\/p>\n

Today, while riding the bus home from work and school, I wracked my brain for a way to \u201cpitch\u201d cabbage to you, skeptical reader. Surely I don\u2019t have to tell you that, in the U.S., the cabbage is woefully misunderstood. Never mind the fact that German kids are eating sauerkraut as soon as they have teeth, or that corned beef and cabbage may well be the best thing to come out of Ireland, ever. Here it is roundly reviled, or at least disliked enough to permit me this slight exaggeration. So as the bus rattled north toward home and dinner, a silent conviction took shape within me: cabbage must be defended<\/em>! What we have here is cabbage under siege! Cabbage must no longer be linked to discipline and punishment; no, it\u2019s part of the natural order of things! By the time we arrived at my stop, I had it: an outline of a theory of cabbage.
\n<\/strong>
\nDear reader, you know that it\u2019s time to close the book on graduate school when even vegetables call to mind famous works of social theory, such as Michel Foucault\u2019s \u201cSociety Must Be Defended,\u201d Discipline and Punish, <\/em>and The Order of Things<\/em>; Zygmunt Bauman\u2019s Society Under Siege<\/em>; and Pierre Bourdieu\u2019s Outline of a Theory of Practice<\/em>. I wince just typing this, and I pity my poor companions on the bus, who I probably blinded with the blazing rays of geekiness emanating from my feverish brain.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m deathly serious about this defense-of-cabbage business. Nearly everyone I consider a friend shares my appreciation for it, and I wouldn\u2019t be the least bit surprised if our friendship were in fact based upon some cabbage lover’s force field we mutually exert upon each another. And on some level (far below consciousness until this writing), I\u2019ve been putting men to \u201cthe cabbage test\u201d for years: I\u2019ve eaten the stuff in some form or other with every man I\u2019ve taken seriously, and it works every time. Often they’re okay with geekiness too.<\/p>\n

So, when you start daydreaming about what to serve with your souffl\u00e9 (or anything else, for that matter), please give this theory a try: I hold that, under both controlled and uncontrollable conditions, one who tries braised red cabbage with apples and caraway seeds will come back for more,<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nand the same goes for an even simpler preparation, saut\u00e9ed green cabbage with apples and red onions.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nA Pinot Noir would be nice as well, and a bookmark.<\/p>\n

\n

\n
\n
Recipe<\/div>\n

Braised Red Cabbage with Apples and Caraway Seeds<\/h2>\n

Adapted from The All New Joy of Cooking<\/em><\/a><\/h3> \n \n <\/header>\n\n
\n <\/figure>\n \n
\n