About this variety
The cabbage of the British winter kitchen. Large, dense drumhead heads in deep burgundy-purple, tightly wrapped around a solid heart with few outer leaves to throw away. A heritage variety in continuous cultivation since the 1860s.
What sets it apart from the quicker summer cabbages is that the cold improves it. Every frost that passes over the plants deepens the colour and concentrates the sugars, so a head cut in late November after six weeks of frost is both better looking and better eating than one cut in early September. Resist the urge to harvest as soon as they look ready — they are safer in the ground than in the kitchen.
This is the cabbage for braising slowly with apple and vinegar, for pickling into jars that keep all winter, and for a slaw that turns an ordinary plate vivid. Rich and hearty rather than delicate, and it stands up to the food you eat in January.
