|
|
07-17-2006, 08:26 PM
|
#1
|
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 3,509
|
What is a kohlrabi?
I found a wonderful looking recipe called Kohlrabi and Carrot Bake. But I have no idea what a kohlrabi is. It's a vegetarian dish, so I'm assuming it's obviously a vegetable, but I was wondering what they were similar to and what they tasted like.
I've also never seen them in the store
|
|
|
07-17-2006, 08:31 PM
|
#2
|
Moderating Mama
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Woodland, CA
Posts: 11,712
S/C/G: 295/200/175
Height: 5' 8"
|
Kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea Gongylodes Group) is a low, stout cultivar of the cabbage which has been selected for its swollen, nearly spherical, Sputnik-like shape. The name comes from the German kohl (cabbage) plus rabi (turnip), because the swollen stem resembles the latter. Kohlrabi has been created by artificial selection for lateral meristem growth, its origin in nature is the wild mustard plant.
The taste and texture of kohlrabi are similar to those of a broccoli stem or cabbage heart, but milder and sweeter, with a higher ratio of flesh to skin. The young stem in particular can be as crisp and juicy as an apple, although much less sweet. Except for the Gigante cultivar, spring-grown kohlrabi much over 5 cm in size tend to be woody, as do fall-grown kohlrabi much over perhaps 10 cm in size; the Gigante cultivar can achieve great size while remaining of good eating quality.
There are several varieties commonly available, including White Vienna, Purple Vienna, Grand Duke, Gigante (aka "Superschmeltz"), Purple Danube, and White Danube. Coloration of the purple types is superficial: the edible parts are all pale yellow.
Hamburg Township, Michigan has titled itself the "Kohlrabi Capital of the World" and at one time had a kohlrabi festival which drew 600 people at its peak in 1985 [1]
|
|
|
07-17-2006, 08:46 PM
|
#3
|
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 3,509
|
Mmmmm, those sound wonderful.
Thank you so much for the info!
|
|
|
07-17-2006, 08:47 PM
|
#4
|
it's always something
Join Date: Aug 1999
Posts: 11,615
|
It looks interesting! I've never tried it, though I have seen it in the supermarket.
Maybe we should all give it a try
|
|
|
07-17-2006, 08:51 PM
|
#5
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Wausau, WI
Posts: 13,383
S/C/G: SW:394/310/180
Height: 5'6"
|
I love kohrabi. We grew them when I was a kid, and ate them raw, sliced with a little salt, or cubed in vegetable soup (they have a nice crisp texture raw, and a smooth creamy texture cooked).
I also shred them and make a coleslaw out of them.
If you can't find them in your grocery store (usually by the beets and turnips), check asian markets and farmer's markets in your area. You can use turnip or rutabaga, but they're stronger in flavor, so it's definitely worth trying to find the kohlrabi if you can.
I've always seen only the green ones (sort of cabbage green, about the size of a small turnip, with lots of greens attached like a turnip), but this month I found and bought some of the purple ones at a farmers market. Taste was exactly the same, and since you usually peel them anyway, the color wasn't any different in the finished dish.
|
|
|
07-18-2006, 11:11 AM
|
#6
|
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 3,509
|
I'd like to try them but I'm a NON-fan of turnips. So it's a good thing they taste differently.
We only have one Asian market in our area and - well, let's just put it this way - I wouldn't go in there to buy FROZEN food, let alone fresh. So that's out
|
|
|
07-18-2006, 10:07 PM
|
#7
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Wausau, WI
Posts: 13,383
S/C/G: SW:394/310/180
Height: 5'6"
|
If you can find them in a farmer's market, they'll taste better than the grocery store. If your town has alot of home gardeners you may also consider placing an ad or seeing if there's a freecycle group in your area (a yahoo group where people post stuff they're giving away, or things they're looking for). You'll find more people with extra zucchini than kohlrabi, but it's still common to find people with garden surplus they're willing to share.
|
|
|
07-19-2006, 01:11 AM
|
#8
|
Working My Way Back Down
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Alaska
Posts: 4,982
|
We grew them for years, but I'm not crazy about them. My DH loves them raw, but if you let them get too big they get very tough and woody. The purple ones are prettier, but as Colleen noted, there's no difference in the taste. They are in the same family as cabbage, broccoli, etc. and so subject to the same pests. We have a lot of trouble with root maggots here. So much so that this year we grew none of these veggies, hoping to wipe the pest out of our soil. We'll be visiting the U-Pick farm later in the season.
|
|
|
07-19-2006, 01:51 AM
|
#9
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Wausau, WI
Posts: 13,383
S/C/G: SW:394/310/180
Height: 5'6"
|
I forgot to mention woodiness. While I love good kohlrabi, crisp and moist, the woody dry ones are awful. That's another reason to try to get them as young and fresh as possible, because you can't really tell if it's woody until you try to cut into it (the peel will be a little tough, but if the kohlrabi itself is hard to cut, or you can see it has sort of a grainy coloration, instead of a solid creamy color - it's going to be tough and dry, and a bit bitter, blech).
|
|
|
07-19-2006, 11:04 AM
|
#10
|
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 3,509
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by kaplods
If you can find them in a farmer's market, they'll taste better than the grocery store. If your town has alot of home gardeners you may also consider placing an ad or seeing if there's a freecycle group in your area (a yahoo group where people post stuff they're giving away, or things they're looking for). You'll find more people with extra zucchini than kohlrabi, but it's still common to find people with garden surplus they're willing to share.
|
Yep, we've got little farmers markets all over the place out here. That's why I love it, every summer I look forward to the farm markets. Just went the other day up the road to get some tomatoes (I have 13 tomato plants but none of my tomatoes are ripe yet) zucchini and their fresh sweet corn.
|
|
|
07-19-2006, 01:54 PM
|
#11
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Wausau, WI
Posts: 13,383
S/C/G: SW:394/310/180
Height: 5'6"
|
We just got back from our farmer's market today.
Mmm. Ranier cherries (my favorite fruit, followed closely by watermelon).
Green onions
cilantro
yellow summer squash
tiny red potatoes
fresh green beans
sweet asian eggplant (a gift from the Hmong lady we got the potatoes from)
peaches (a gift from the man we bought the cherries from)
snap peas
Then we went to the downtown organic grocery, owned by an organic farmer. We bought fresh ground horseradish, fresh purple garlic, and homemade salsa.
We also bought fresh white fish, and a tiny bit of smoked fish.
We're learning to buy groceries for just a few days at a time so we can eat really fresh. The farmer's market is open Wednesdays and Saturdays. Everything looked so good, I have to keep in mind how fast we can eat it, even at five servings a day. I love summer.
|
|
|
07-19-2006, 03:10 PM
|
#12
|
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 3,509
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by kaplods
We just got back from our farmer's market today.
Mmm. Ranier cherries (my favorite fruit, followed closely by watermelon).
Green onions
cilantro
yellow summer squash
tiny red potatoes
fresh green beans
sweet asian eggplant (a gift from the Hmong lady we got the potatoes from)
peaches (a gift from the man we bought the cherries from)
snap peas
Then we went to the downtown organic grocery, owned by an organic farmer. We bought fresh ground horseradish, fresh purple garlic, and homemade salsa.
We also bought fresh white fish, and a tiny bit of smoked fish.
We're learning to buy groceries for just a few days at a time so we can eat really fresh. The farmer's market is open Wednesdays and Saturdays. Everything looked so good, I have to keep in mind how fast we can eat it, even at five servings a day. I love summer.
|
Can I come to your house for dinner?
lol
|
|
|
07-19-2006, 03:23 PM
|
#13
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Wausau, WI
Posts: 13,383
S/C/G: SW:394/310/180
Height: 5'6"
|
Got your mouth watering did I? Oh, and I forgot fresh currants. They're so tart and fresh tasting, I was thinking of pureeing them with a little green onion and cilantro to use on a chicken sandwhich instead of mayo.
I could eat summer fruits and veggies and nothing else, if my stomache let me. I've often had meals of just sweetcorn sprayed with butter spray.
|
|
|
07-19-2006, 04:08 PM
|
#14
|
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 3,509
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by kaplods
Got your mouth watering did I?
|
Yep, I'll take grilled fish and eggplant sprinkled with cilantro, please. And the cherries for dessert.
lol
Sounds great
|
|
|
07-19-2006, 06:41 PM
|
#15
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Wausau, WI
Posts: 13,383
S/C/G: SW:394/310/180
Height: 5'6"
|
|
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:27 AM.
|