h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Cabbage - A43976848
Author: BigAl. Member of the Wessex Researchers Group - U723247

'The time has come,' the Walrus said, 'To talk of many things: Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax-- Of cabbages--and kings...'

I got the idea for this Entry following a BBC TV South Today ‘Claim to Fame’ series on what you’re your town/village is famous for.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/southtoday/content/articles/2008/11/03/telltom_fame_feature.shtml

As the cabbage was first grown in England in Dorset, as a member of the Wessex Researchers Group A395499, I felt honour-bound to write the Entry.

A very interesting entry BigAl

As an aside, did you know that wallflowers are also brassica's and related to the cabbage. Thats why the bare rooted ones you can buy smell like boiled cabbage

Hi BigAl

I'll be back to look over this further but for now I'd just like to note this:

'The time has come,' the Walrus said,
'To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings...'
Lewis Carroll

should be

The time has come, the Walrus said,
To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings... - Lewis Carroll

Why is that All you've done is remove quotation marks where there should be QMs

What Opti has done, BigAl, is to put Lewis Carroll directly beneath the quote, inside the BLOCKQUOTE.

This, I believe, is correct Guide ML



Good entry, too

Oh right . I don't think I've done it like that before, though

If you check one of your other Guide Entries, you will see the Sub-Ed would have done it for you

Brilliant, Big Al.

I'm definitely going to perform the red cabbage pH test this Christmas.

Minor spelling error on footnote 4: "can cause a 90% reduction"

Icy

I did wonder what a folate van was - and if there were folate delivery van drivers...

(plus you need a fullstop in the same footnote)

Nice one Al. It reads comfortably, not too sciencey, not too factoidy, and does the cabbage honourably.

Icy and Matt. I've dealth with those points (I was also wond'ring what I could've meant by a 'folate van' until I re-read the footnote

Right I'm back

First thing for changing the quote style and Lil for backing me up on it

Not sure whether you really do need the speech marks in this quote though

I'm a little confused as to whether the cabbage is called <> if it's not perhaps the sentence should be changed

Perhaps tell us what you mean by 'heart' surely these don't beat like animals hearts do they

You end one sentence in 'these' and start the following with the same word perhaps you could change that.

What does cruciferous mean?

Perhaps you could link to some recipes concerning cabbages

I don't think you need to repeat etc

Your use of <> seems to be randomly put in that paragraph perhaps move it or omit it.

<> I don't think you need to say Great Britain

That's all I have

I've dealt with most of those, Opti.



Well, I'd have thought that most people would be familiar with the use of 'heart' as meaning the centre or middle of anything

> seems to be randomly put in that paragraph perhaps move it or omit it.>

That was intended as a rhetorical Q to encourage people to experiment. It was not 'randomly put in'.

I'll think about inserting links to recipes. But I do have a link as to how to cook savoy cabbages, and I do say that, whenever cooking cabbages, it's important not to overcook them.

A

Would you have anything to say about whether ornamental cabbages are edible? The reason I mention it is that I've heard both answers given with great authority, but I haven't heard a reason why they wouldn't be (if they aren't).

They are edible. I was wondering whether to put that in, but think I may as well.

Interesting stuff BigAl, when I think of cabbages I think of Crackerjack ..... how old does that make me.

My daughter also insists I repeat the word cabbages if I feel a sneeze coming on - apparently it can chase the sneeze away.


Just for your information that .... nothing really interesting left to say about the cabbage, you seem to have covered it all.

In this convo you have the Lewis Caroll quote correct - but on the entry the final line has mutated to "and cabbages..." where it should be "of cabbages..."

Can you work Kimchi into this? It's the best use of Chinese cabbage I've ever seen.

Nice entry

Oops. I recall causing this mutation this morning

Somebody earlier on was mentioning recipes, which I've been cogitating over. I was thinking of borsch which, if I recall, contains cabbage as well as beetroot. So, I'll try to work in kinchi as well

I've never put cabbage in my Borsch - but you could do a recipe for the Russian staple: Shchee (or however you spell it when it's westernised). That has the added advantage of the fact that (as I was told in Russia way back when) that Russians say "cabbage soup" when they have their photo taken.

Also you could include a Red Cabbage Recipe - the German way is with juniper and apple and is completely delicious (and if you like I'll prevail upon my for a recipe)

Oh and white cabbage in Eastern Parts of Europe is more likely to be used to make stuffed cabbage leaves than coleslaw (I think - here I've only ever seen coleslaw in KFC)

Ah, it was 'schee' (spelling!) I was thinking of. Yes, please send me the recipe for red cabbage I'll put you down for 'Aditional Research'

own recipe for Red Cabbage - German stylee
1 head of Red Cabbage - shredded
200gr (brown) sugar
200ml vinegar (red wine or rasperry would be best)
Salt & Black Pepper (a good sprinkle)
2 bay leaves
2 or 3 juniper berries
200ml red wine
a few cloves
half a cinnamon stick
2 small (red) onions - peeled and sliced
2 apples - peeled, cored and sliced
200gr fresh cranberries
pinch of nutmeg

1. put all the spices into a small muslin bag
2. put the red cabbage in a large bown and mix in all other ingredients
3. cover the bowl and leave to marinade for a few days
4. when you want to eat it, put it in a large pan and simmer for 2-3 hours, stirring regularly to make sure it's not catching on the bottom

There's no need for a credit - it's not even my recpie! (thanks though, that gave me a warm glow)