Cabbage recipes: from an unusual bread to cutlets and autumn salad

The Latvian magazine «100 Labi Padomi» has put together a selection of five dishes in which cabbage is the main ingredient. Cabbage is one of the oldest vegetables in Latvian cooking, and the selection also mentions red cabbage, whose flavour is not noticeably different from the regular kind, though its appearance is.

Cabbage bread

This is not bread in the traditional sense, but it can be baked easily from readily available ingredients. The recipe makes 6–8 servings and takes 2 hours 10 minutes in total. It calls for a cabbage of about one kilogram, 8–9 slices of bacon, flour, milk, eggs, melted butter, salt, baking powder and ground white pepper. The cabbage is boiled for about 30 minutes and chopped, and the bacon is fried until crisp and crumbled. A batter of flour, milk, eggs and butter is left to rest for 30 minutes. The cabbage and bacon are then stirred in, and the mixture is baked for 55 minutes in an oven heated to 200 degrees.

Sauerkraut

For those without room for a barrel in their flat, cabbage can be fermented in a three-litre jar. Shredded cabbage is mixed with a little salt and caraway seeds, tamped down and left at room temperature for 4–5 days. The jar is then closed with a lid and kept in the fridge.

Cutlets and salad

For the cutlets, a kilogram of finely chopped cabbage is sautéed in butter and cooled. Eggs and flour or breadcrumbs are added, and the cutlets are shaped by hand and fried in butter until brown. Any preferred spices can be added.

The autumn salad uses white cabbage, carrots, onions, bell peppers, vinegar, sunflower oil, sugar and salt. The vegetables are mixed, packed into jars, kept at room temperature for three days and then stored in a cool place.

Cabbage chops

The cabbage is briefly boiled in salted water, cut into slices, dipped in egg and breadcrumbs and fried in butter. It is served with sour cream. Flour alone can also be used for coating, with the frying done in vegetable oil.