Cabbages and Kings

In case you haven’t deduced this from looking at my last name, my family heritage is very German. My father’s family came to America from the Rhinepfalz (Rhine River valley) in southwestern Germany in 1843 and my mother’s family, as near as I can tell, came from northern Germany a few years before that. My family, having a stubborn German streak, held on to the old ways of living and eating about 100 years longer than most immigrants. Sauerkraut, pork sausage, spaetzla, and kohlrabi were all foods I grew up eating. I was surprised and a bit amazed when I discovered that most people thought that kohlrabi was an odd, exotic vegetable. Maybe it is a little odd, but this mild mannered vegetable that grows in the garden is certainly not exotic.

Kohlrabi is a member of the cabbage family along with cauliflower and broccoli. Kohl is the German word for cabbage and ‘rabi’ could be a form of Rube the German ‘root’ word for turnips, carrots and beets. Legend has it that in 800 AD, Charlemagne the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, ordered kohlrabi grown in all the lands of his realm. Most of us think of Charlemagne as French but his chosen city of residence was Aix-la-Chapelle now called Aachen located in western Germany. Somehow the German name for this form of cabbage stuck through the ages.

Kohlrabi is often mistaken for a root vegetable because of its bulbous shape. It actually grows above the ground as cabbage and cauliflower do. The swollen stem produces the beet shaped bulb and leaves grow in concentric layers from its exterior. You can see where I cut the stem just above the roots in the photo. It sort of reminds me of Saturn with rings of cabbage leaves orbiting it.

Kohlrabi tastes nothing like a root vegetable either. It has a mild delicate flavor like cauliflower stems but sweeter and crunchier. My husband grew up eating it cut into slices raw as a snack or side to sandwiches. I grew up eating it cooked in cream sauce and served as a side dish with summer Sunday dinners of fried chicken and garden fresh green beans.

If you find kohlrabi at your farmers market or at the supermarket as I did earlier this spring buy ones that are tennis ball size or smaller. As they get larger they tend to get tough and bitter. Remember that whatever you do with cabbage, cauliflower, or broccoli you can do with kohlrabi. You can shred it in salad and coleslaw. You can steam it and top it with sautéed breadcrumbs. You can hollow out the center and stuff it with sausage. You can smother it in cheese sauce. You can eat it raw.

This is the classic recipe for kohlrabi as I grew up eating it. I like to think Germans have been eating it prepared this way for centuries.

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Kohlrabi in Cream Sauce

2 kohlrabi bulbs, peeled, halved, and sliced in 1/8 inch thick half moons

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon sugar

1 Tablespoon butter

1 heaping Tablespoon all-purpose flour

½ cup milk

2 Tablespoons cream

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Put the kohlrabi, salt and sugar in a saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Cook until kohlrabis are tender but still firm. Drain but reserve ½ cup of the cooking liquid. Put the cooked kohlrabi in a serving bowl and cover to keep them warm.

Melt the butter in the saucepan and stir in the flour. Keep stirring until the paste is golden brown. Slowly add the milk and reserved cooking water. A wire whisk works great here. Keep whisking until the sauce is smooth. Add the cream, salt, sugar, nutmeg, and pepper. Continue to cook and stir as the sauce simmers and thickens, about 5 minutes. Put the cooked kohlrabi into the hot sauce to warm them, and then return everything to the serving bowl. This makes about four servings as a side dish.