How good marrow cabbage can taste and how healthy it is, is so far known to only a few people. In Germany, marrow cabbage is used so far mainly as cattle feed and can be fed as a supplement, especially in the fall, if the grass is scarce. It is also frequently used as a green manure in agriculture in this country. Pith cabbage is also suitable for human consumption and contains quite a few healthy vitamins and minerals. It only needs to be prepared properly, then it can become a delicious meal.
This is what you should know about the marrow stem cabbage.
Marrow cabbage is quite suitable for human consumption and contains not a few healthy vitamins and minerals at all. Marrow cabbage tolerates cold quite well. Therefore, sowing in the open ground is usually done in Germany already in April long before the Ice Saints. It is very insensitive and tolerates both shady and very sunny locations just as well as great heat or cold without suffering much damage. The plants can grow up to 2 m high. Because marrow cabbage is frost-hardy, it can be harvested well after frost in the garden, just like kale. In the Spanish region of Galicia, in Turkey, in Portugal, Italy and Greece, the healthy marrow cabbage is found more frequently in regional cuisine than here in Germany and is part of various dishes traditionally served there. Since marrow cabbage is rarely found in grocery stores, it is advisable to grow it in the garden. As the above explanations show, this is not difficult, because marrow cabbage grows very well in almost all conditions and brings a plentiful harvest. How to prepare it, about it the Internet in modern times provides information. It is therefore worthwhile to try such recipes once and then perhaps give free rein to your own imagination to give this healthy vegetable a place in the kitchen in Germany as well.
Importance for health
Like all green leafy plants, marrow stem cabbage is one of the vegetables that contain particularly high levels of vitamin K. Similar to kale, it is well suited as a winter vegetable and goes well as a healthy side dish with many things, including the more familiar kale. Since marrow cabbage can still be brought in fresh in the winter when you grow it yourself in the garden, there are no long transport routes and vitamin losses. Thus, this cabbage has the same advantages as the better-known kale. Besides vitamin K, the contents of carotene, vitamin C, iron and magnesium in marrow cabbage are not to be scoffed at and ensure that this winter vegetable strengthens the immune system. If you eat a portion of marrow cabbage more often, you will get through the wet and cold season much better healthy.
Ingredients and nutritional values
| Nutritional information |
Amount per 100 gram |
| Calories 32 | Fat content 0.6 g |
| Cholesterol 0 mg |
Sodium 17 mg |
| Potassium 213 mg | Carbohydrates 5 g |
| Dietary fiber 4 g |
Protein 3 g |
With only 32 calories per 100 g, marrow cabbage is decidedly low in calories and is not fattening. 100 g contains 0.2 g of polyunsaturated fatty acids, 4 g of dietary fiber, 213 mg of potassium, 5,019 µg of vitamin A in the form of carotene (which is a lot and more than in many other vegetables) 35.3 mg of vitamin C, 232 mg of calcium, 0.5 mg of iron, 0.2 mg of vitamin B6 and 27 mg of magnesium. With these healthy ingredients, it is a shame that marrow cabbage is still quite unknown in the cuisine of Germany.
Intolerances and allergies
All cabbage varieties are healthy and not harmful. Too much cabbage can sometimes cause flatulence. If you don’t overdo it with eating cabbage and add a little cumin as a spice to these dishes, you won’t have any problems with that either. In fact, all cabbage dishes are good for the stomach and intestines and also prevent high blood sugar levels, high cholesterol or even certain types of cancer such as colon cancer because they contain a lot of healthy fiber and ingredients. This is also true for marrow cabbage. As with all foods, it is of course possible in rare cases for an individual to have an allergic reaction to marrow cabbage. However, this has not yet become known.
Shopping and kitchen tips
If marrow cabbage is grown in your own garden, it can stay outside as long as possible and be harvested fresh. It should otherwise be stored in a cool place, for example in the cellar or a garden shed, preferably with the root. In the grocery store, marrow cabbage is still a rarity today. But if you want to order it, you can do it very well today via the Internet in various feed stores, where it can be obtained very cheaply. Seeds are also easy to find everywhere if you want to grow marrow cabbage in your own garden. If not all of the marrow stem cabbage is consumed in the kitchen, put the cabbage well wrapped in the refrigerator. Just like any other cabbage, it will definitely keep fresh there for a few days and can then be used for another meal.
Preparation tips
The leaves of marrow cabbage can be used very well for wrapping meat or other foods. This creates things similar to cabbage rolls wrapped in white cabbage, which are very tasty. Pith cabbage also tastes very good as sauerkraut. In this case, it can be mixed well with some other types of cabbage and then gives the sauerkraut a very special flavor. In southern cuisine, marrow cabbage is often used in soups. Typical soups with marrow cabbage are, for example, caldo verde, which is one of the national dishes in Portugal. An old dish with marrow stem cabbage is Knieperkohl. Knieperkohl consists of a mixture with white cabbage, marrow stem cabbage, green cabbage, vine leaves and cherry leaves. It is accompanied by bacon, knuckle of pork, Kassler or cabbage sausage as a meat side dish and jacket potatoes or fried potatoes as another side dish, for example. The Knieperkohl has an ancient tradition and originally comes from the Thirty Years War. When white cabbage became scarce at that time, the starving population resorted to fodder cabbage to make sauerkraut from it as well. It soon turned out how delicious these soured cabbage mixtures tasted, which today are called Knieperkohl and still have many friends. Especially in the Prignitz, a region that today belongs partly to Brandenburg and partly to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Knieperkohl developed into a typical national dish there, which is still often cooked and very popular there. Not only the leaves of the Markstammkohl can be used well in the kitchen, but also the stem. It is edible and very tasty. It is prepared similarly to kohlrabi and is then very similar to kohlrabi vegetables in taste.
