It’s unromantically named and it’s everywhere, but treat it right and cabbage has a subtle deliciousness and it also packs a surprising nutritional punch. 

A Brassica, the cabbage is a relative of the cauli, broc, kale and its bitter mini-me – Brussels sprouts. However, what sets it apart from its family is its amazing versatility.

Does it belong in a salad? A burger? A stir fry? A pickling jar? An oven? There’s no single right answer, because they’re all right answers when it comes to the humble cabbage.

Not only is the cabbage versatile, it’s also surprisingly nutritious – a far cry above the lookalike imposter, iceberg lettuce. Raw cabbage in particular is full of folic acid, vitamins A, C and K, and stacks of fibre. Cabbage’s two main fermented squeezes, kimchi and sauerkraut, are also a delicious way to get fermented food into your diet. And you know what they say – fermented food means a happy gut.

Where to find it

Time for the scary part of the article, where we learn how expensive in-season vegetables are at our main supermarkets this year. Here goes.

New World is selling whole green cabbages for $6.49, and halves for $3.99, while red cabbage halves are $4.49.

Countdown offers an overwhelming array of cabbages, so just wait for your vision to blur as your eyes pass over this leafy list: whole green cabbages, $7.69; half green cabbage, $5.49; quarter green cabbages, $3.49; whole red cabbages, $8.99; half red cabbages, $5.99; quarter red cabbages, $3.99; whole savoy cabbages, $8.49; half savoy cabbages, $5.49. In conclusion… pricey.

Pak’nSave, as usual, is the winner of the day, with whole green and wong bok Chinese cabbages both going for $3.99 – almost half the price of Countdown – and whole red cabbages at $5.99. They’re also selling half cabbages at reasonable prices, but at this point I’m losing the willpower to type dollar signs.

Cabbages are very much in season at the moment, so you could also try peeking over neighbourhood fences and sawing one from a veggie patch (I kid: please don’t do this. People really love their cabbages).

How to make it terrible

Overcooking is always bad, as clearly indicated by the “over” part. But in the case of cabbages, overcooking not only makes the vegetable itself turn to a terrible mush, it also makes your entire home smell terrible, via the powerful odour of degrading sulphur.

If you have an unwelcome houseguest who you’d like to fumigate, put a cabbage in a pot and walk away. Otherwise, only ever boil a cabbage until just tender.

How to make it amazing

Raw, delicate and crisp; sour, spicy and intense; dense and juicy; soft, tender and fragrant. The cabbage is a true chameleon, bending with grace to a vast variety of culinary whims. Raw shredded cabbage is the key ingredient in coleslaw (although you could make an argument that this crown actually goes to mayo), and a staple in tacos and burgers. It’s also an easy way to bulk out fried rice and noodles.

It can be the hero of a meal, as in whole baked cabbage, or the nearly invisible supporting character that nevertheless brings depth and completeness, as in this saucy recipe for lemongrass and ginger chicken with sautéed veg.

But it’s so much more. Dozens of cuisines throughout Europe, Asia and northern Africa make cabbage rolls, where whole cabbage leaves are used for wrapping parcels of meat, grains and mushrooms. There’s also fermented cabbage, most commonly in the forms of spicy Korean kimchi and sour German sauerkraut. Kimchi fried rice is an unbeatable comfort food dish, as is spicy kimchi soup.

Then there’s sauerkraut, one of Germany’s best-known dishes. Fun fact: during the First World War, American makers of sauerkraut were worried about their product’s German name, so they slightly overcorrected and for a while rebranded sauerkraut as “liberty cabbage”.

We’ll keep eating liberty cabbage regardless of its name, though – not only is it complex in its acidity and bite, it’s also brimming with calcium, magnesium, fibre, folate, probiotics and enzymes – Captain James Cook even brought a stash of sauerkraut on sea voyages to keep away scurvy.

Which makes this stack of cheese and sauerkraut toasties, fried in lashings of butter, healthy. Right?