Tag: Kohlrabi

UNVEILING KOHLRABI, a BRASSICA

Kohlrabi is a odd looking vegetable that has remained relatively unknown. It belongs to the Brassica family, which includes more favoured vegetables like broccoli, kale, and cabbage. It has a round, bulbous shape that can be green, purple, or white, and grows above ground on a thick stem; it has an unconventional appearance that seems to deter home cooks.

Kohlrabi has a mild, slightly sweet taste and a crisp texture similar to a turnip or radish. It tastes like a cross between cabbage (sweetness, and maybe just a little bit of sharp heat) and a mild radish (spicy, peppery, like mustard and horseradish).

The bulb of kohlrabi can be eaten raw and cooked, is low in calories packed with vitamins and antioxidants. The leaves can be cooked, the young leaves can be added to salads.

But despite its nutritional pedigree and potential appeal, kohlrabi an underappreciated vegetable in many kitchens.

I was recently asked to write about kohlrabi by Lindsay Marie Morris, a novelist and journalist based in Los Angeles, California. Her work spans multiple topics and she has a strong passion for Sicilian culture and cuisine.

Lindsay Marie Morris found kohlrabi recipes on my blog.

In Ragusa (south eastern Sicily) is where my father’s family lives and  they cook the bulb and leaves with homemade pasta called Causunedda. The  water that the vegetables are cooked in (broth) is enriched with fresh pork rind and the pasta is also cooked in the broth. It may not sound appealing, but this wet pasta dish is very  unique and steeped in family tradition.

The Ragusani are known for their straightforward, flavourful dishes that focus on local produce, rich meats—especially pork—and seasonal vegetables. This emphasis on simplicity has profoundly shaped my understanding of cooking, showing me that the best meals often come from the freshest ingredients and strong traditions.

Below, photo of the homemade Causunedda as made by one of the elderly aunt and helped by the family. Unfortunately she is deceased and probably the younger faily members no longer make them.

My cousin in Ragusa mixing the Causanedda. It is usually a family affair.

In Augusta (just south of Catania), a cousin from my mother’s side of the family treats its bulb and leaves as many Italians treat green, leafy vegetables. The vegetables are cooked – boiled, then drained and sautéed in extra virgin olive oil, garlic and anchovies. Chillies are optional, but adding chillies in Sicily is very common. The sautéd vegetables are then used to dress. and like when cooking pasta with broccoli, the pasta is cooked in the flavoured water that has been used to cook the broccoli.

The recipes about kohlrabi on my blog:

KOHLRABI with pasta (Causunnedda)

KOHLRABI, as eaten in Sicily

A WET PASTA DISH WITH KOHLRABI

This is a very special post of the pasta making in Ragusa:

GNUCCHITEDDI (Making small gnocchi shapes using my great grandmother’s device)

Lindsay Marie Morris

My interview as published on Lindsay Marie Morris’s blog:

https://www.lindsaymariemorris.com/blog/posts/45183

Follow Lindsay Marie Morris’s author journey and explore her writing about Sicilian culture at lindsaymorris.com/blog.

A very early photograth of me holding bunches of Kohlrabi in Ragusa. You can see how the size of the bulbs are smaller and there are many more leaves than the ones I see and buy in Australia and have seen in other  European countries and in Vietnam.

KOHLRABI, as eaten in Sicily

As usual, I look forward to reading Richard Cornish’s regular column Brain Food in The Age on Tuesdays and today he is writing about Kohlrabi (September 7, 2021).

Just as listening to music has the power to bring up memories and reading about Kohlrabi brings up memories of Sicily.

Below are recipes from my blog that use Kohlrabi quite differently to the chefs that Richard mentions in Brain Food including David Moyle, the creative director of Harvest Newrybar near Byron Bay, and Rosalin Virnik from Anchor Restaurant in Melbourne’s Elwood.

Here’s my bit about Kohlrabi and a couple of recipes below.

Cavolo is the generic term for a range of vegetables n the Brassicaceae family.  In Italian cavoli are cauliflowers, cavolo verza is a cabbage, there is cavolo nero (Tuscan kale), cavolo rosso (red cabbage).

Just to be perverse, Kohlrabi are called just cavoli in Sicily and in Italian it is cavolo rapa..

Just to confuse things even further, Sicilians call cauliflowers broccoli.

As well as the purple coloured Kohlrabi roots there are light green ones; the root is always sold complete with the leaves and the whole plant is eaten.

One way Kohlrabi is eaten in most of Sicily and Italy is  boiled as a vegetable side dish with a dressing of extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice, but the preferred way is to cook it with pasta, as a wet pasta dish.

In Ragusa (Sicily) where my father’s family is from they cook it with homemade pasta called Causunedda.

See recipe and photos:

KOHLRABI with pasta (Causunnedda )

A WET PASTA DISH WITH KOHLRABI

I have also seen Kohlrabi in markets in Vietnam

KOHLRABI and TENERUMI, shared between cultures of Sicily and Vietnam.

Not Sicilian, but a good salad:

KOHLRABI, FENNEL, CELERIAC AND DAIKON MAKE A GOOD SALAD (AND OTHER RECIPES)

In another of Richard Cornish’s regular column Brain Food, he referred to Pasta Con Le Sarde, an iconic dish in Sicilian cooking.

PASTA CON LE SARDE recipes:

PASTA CON LE SARDE, Iconic Sicilian made easy

PASTA CON LE SARDE (Pasta with sardines, from Palermo, made with fennel, pine nuts and currants)

PASTA CON LE SARDE, an iconic Sicilian recipe from Palermo. Cooked at Slow Food Festival Melbourne

Kohlrabi, Fennel, Celeriac and Daikon make a good salad (and other recipes)

Not a bad salad.

In season are celeriac, kohlrabi, fennel and daikon. Mint and parsley, red onion, no worries. Radicchio and rocket, seem to be around always. Daikon is not an Italian vegetable but in this case it goes.

To cut  the root vegetables I used my Borner Original V–Slicer that I have had for over 30 years. The blades are still sharp. Shredding the vegetables can make a difference – easier to eat, quicker to cut, good on the eye and the  small batons accept a greater amount of dressing…. If you want it.

A much better looking and tasting salad with some colour!  A combination of flavours – sharp, bitter, sour, fresh and mustard.

On this occasion to dress the salad, I began with a vinaigrette made with extra virgin oil, salt, a little vinegar and lemon juice and then topped it with some egg mayonnaise.

Using just mayonnaise would have made the salad heavy.

Below, celeriac and kohlrabi to the left.

Recipes with kohlrabi:

A WET PASTA DISH WITH KOHLRABI

KOHLRABI and TENERUMI, shared between cultures of Sicily and Vietnam

KOHLRABI with pasta (Causunnedda )

Celeriac:

SEDANO RAPA (Celeriac and how to eat it)

Fennel:

STUFFED BAKED FENNEL WITH PANGRATTATO – FINOCCHI RIPIENI

FENNEL CAPONATA (Sicilian sweet and sour method for preparing certain vegetables).

FENNEL; male and female shapes

Mayonnaise:

PESCE IN BIANCO (Plain fish). MAIONESE (Mayonnaise)

ITALIAN RUSSIAN SALAD, no beetroot

VITELLO TONNATO

 

KOHLRABI and TENERUMI, shared between cultures of Sicily and Vietnam

No, this is not Sicily, I am in Hanoi, in Vietnam. And the Vietnamese eat kohlrabi and the green leaves just like the Sicilians do.  I do not know how they cook kohlrabi in Hanoi, but I know how some of my Sicilian relatives cook them.

kohlrabiatstall(1)

 

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My relatives who live in Ragusa (south-eastern region of Sicily) make causunedda (Sicilian). These are small gnocchi shaped pasta with a groove in the middle, similar to casarecce. Causunedda is known by different names in other regions of Sicily, for example, gnocculi, gnucchiteddi, cavati and caviateddi (in Sicilian).

The kohlrabi that my relatives buy are usually much smaller in size and can also be tinged with purple. The bulbs have abundant leaves and are sold in bunches. The kohlarabi and their leaves are always boiled in water with some cotenne –strips of fresh pig skin. The pig skin may not sound very appetising, but the results are a velvety flavourful broth that enhance the taste.

Most of the time the Ragusani add borlotti beans as well . The causunedda are  cooked in the boiling soup after the kohrabi and leaves are cooked and the pasta is added last of all. In the dish below is a photo taken at my aunt’s house in Ragusa.

See post for Causunedda and Gnucchiteddi

 

The final result is a wet pasta dish and very delicious. Of course, it is never bought to the table without having had fragrant extra virgin olive oil drizzled on top.

In Vietnam, I am also eating the leaves and tendrils of some sort of pumpkin. These greens are very much like tenerumi that the Sicilians love. In Sicily they are made into a soup.

Here in Hanoi they are stir fried with garlic and presented as greens.The photo below shows the pumpkin tendrils.

Although the vegetable markets in Hanoi may look different to those in Sicily, the produce is very fresh and like the Sicilians, the Vietnamese shop daily.

 

THOSE OTHER BRASSICAS (Cabbages and Brussel Sprouts and how to cook them)

I love all brassicas (brassicaceae or mustard family), not just the Italian cime di rape,  the coloured (green, purple, pink) and cream cauliflowers, broccoli, cavolo nero, kale, kohlrabi,  cabbages Brussels sprouts and all of those Asian mustard greens .

Purple cauli pile_0076 crop

If we are talking about favourite Sicilian brassicas, there are the cime di rape, coloured cauliflowers, the green and purple coloured kohlrabi and broccoli.

kohlrabi purple pattern_0104

Italians seem to buy local produce and you are unlikely not find brussel sprouts, savoy cabbages, cavolo nero or red cabbage  in Sicily – these are grown in north of Italy. In the north of Italy you are less likely to find cime di rape or kohlrabi or the purple cauliflowers.

In Sicily the white cabbage (cavolo cappuccio), available in winter, is often used uncooked as a salad green and simply dressed with a mixture of extra virgin olive oil, wine vinegar, salt and pepper. The salad tastes quite sweet.

Brussels sprouts in Italy are called cavolini or cavoletti di Bruxelles (or Brussels).

The Brussels sprouts in my mother’s kitchen were always brasati (braised in a little broth – stock or stock cube with a little water). My mother’s brussel sprouts were always overcooked and unfortunately for me this seems to be the preferred way that  Italians prefer to eat vegetables.

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INGREDIENTS
Brussels sprouts, 1k
onions, 2 sliced finely
butter and extra virgin olive oil, ½-¾ cup
stock/broth, veal or chicken, ½- 1 cup
pepper and salt to taste

PROCESSES
Remove the external leaves to the cavolini, and cut a little cross at the base
(to help them cook evenly).
Precook them for about 5 mins by boiling them in salted, boiling water (I do not pre cook them) and drain well.
Sauté the onions in a mixture of oil and butter, add the cavolini and toss them around till coated.
Add the broth, salt and pepper, partly cover them with a lid and braise slowly.

brussells_0084blog

Red cabbage (cavolo cappuccio rosso) is not a Sicilian vegetable, but is appreciated in Trieste and goes very well with pork. The following recipe has Austrian origins, which is not surprising when one looks at Trieste’s location.




INGREDIENTS

bacon or speck cut into very small cubes, ½ – 1 cup

red cabbage, ½ sliced very thinly
extra-virgin olive oil, to taste
red wine vinegar, ½ cup
cumin seeds,
salt and pepper to taste

PROCESSES
Lightly brown the bacon or speck in a little oil.
Boil the vinegar, add the cumin seeds and a little salt and pour the hot mixture over the cabbage.
Add the bacon, toss and let it marinade for at least 2 hours.
Add a drizzle of oil when ready to serve.

Cooked cabbage is not very common in Sicily, but it is in Trieste and I have always loved the way my mother cooks Savoy cabbage (cappuccio verza).

When we first arrived in Australia, there was plenty of cabbage and not much else in the way of green vegetables, so cabbage was frequently eaten. As silly as this may seem to you, I used to love this cabbage dish as a filling in a sandwich or panino (bread roll). Although it was my favourite filling I used to cringe on those occasions that my mother had packed this for my school lunch. It used to smell so strongly and on those particular days, I used to pretend I had forgotten my lunch and ate it on the way home. My school bag always needed to be aired overnight.

INGREDIENTS
Savoy cabbage, ½ sliced thinly
garlic, 3 cloves, chopped
white wine, ½ glass or water
bay leaves, 2, fresh
salt and freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil, ½-¾ cup

PROCESSES
Add the garlic and the cabbage to the hot oil.
Stir the cabbage in the oil until it begins to soften, add the wine, bay leaves and the salt and pepper.
Cover the pan and cook on very gentle heat for at least 20 minutes (my mother cooked it twice as long). Stir from time to time to ensure that it is not sticking and add more wine or water if necessary.

See Recipes:

CIME DI RAPE

CAVOLO NERO

CAVOLOFIORE  AFFOGATO (cauliflower)

KOHIRABI with pasta

 

KOHLRABI with pasta (Causunnedda )

Kohlrabi are called cavoli in Sicily and in Italian it is cavolo rapa.

Cavolo is the generic term for some of the brassicas, for example cavolo verza is a cabbage, cavolo nero is Tuscan cabbage, cavolo rosso is red cabbage.

In Italian cavoli are cauliflowers.

Just to confuse things even further, Sicilians call cauliflowers broccoli.

cauli P1010077

As well as the purple coloured Kohlrabi roots there are light green ones; the root is always sold complete with the leaves and the whole plant is eaten.

Kohlrabi in Ragusa is either eaten boiled as a vegetable side dish with a dressing of extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice, but the preferred way is to cook it with pasta, as a wet pasta dish.

cavoli DSC_0015

The photo above is of me during one of the many visits to Sicily. I am collecting the bunches of kohlrabi with their abundant green leaves from their ortalano (seller of fruit vegetables), who came around every morning – excluding Sunday – with his van to sell his vegetables.

The kohlrabi I am able to buy at the Queen Victoria Market are always much bigger than the ones in the photos (purple ones are from market in Syracuse) but because the plant is picked when large, the leaves are not as tender.

I could never say that the version I make is as tasty as the one my relatives in Ragusa make. For a start, they make it with home made pasta (called causunedda) and they also put in strips of cutini (cotenne in Italian, pork skin in English) to flavour the broth.

The cutini (from fresh pork) are common in Sicilian cooking especially in Ragusa. They are eaten stuffed, rolled and braised as a secondo (main course), but mainly added to soups (especially pulses) and nearly always as an ingredient to make a strong sugo to dress pasta or the ravioli di ricotta (a local specialty from the south eastern part of Sicily).

Because I do not make my own causunnedda, I buy Sardinian gnocchetti shaped pasta (called gnochetti sardi) or casarecce.

GNUCCHITEDDI (Making small gnocchi shapes using my great grandmother’s device)

RICOTTA RAVIOLI and STONE GROUND FLOUR

Kohlrabi is an autumn – winter vegetable and it is amazing how something so simple can taste so good.

Clean the greens and separate them into manageable pieces; peel the kohlrabi root and cut into bite sized pieces.
Boil them in salted water (add strips of fresh pork rind if you wish). The water will be used as the broth to cook the pasta so calculate the amount of liquid carefully. (There doesn’t need to be abundant amounts of liquid, that is, not as much as you may use to cook pasta as you do normally because the pasta does not get drained).

When the vegetables are soft, drain them, but save the water and the rind.

Cook the pasta in the broth.  Return the vegetables to the broth and pasta. If there still is too much liquid, remove some. When my relatives cook it it looks like a wet pasta dish and is not floating in liquid, but you must not forget that the pasta cooked in the broth adds some starch to the broth and thickens it.

Add chopped chilli or chilli flakes. Now for one of the most important parts -dribble with your finest extra virgin olive oil and serve.

Grated pecorino is placed on the table as an option.

The Ragusani also cook the causunnedda with dried  borlotti beans in winter and with fresh borlotti beans when in season. In spring fresh broad beans are used.

In the photo below is Franca, my cousin in Ragusa preparing the causunnedda with Kohlrabi.

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