It's hard for me to imagine traditional Russian cuisine without cabbage. But in order for the dishes to turn out delicious, when buying cabbage, you need to pay attention to several important points …
We use fresh white cabbage (for example, in salads), in the first and second courses, we preserve it. But cabbage soup, soup, cabbage garnish, and, of course, sauerkraut will only come from a good head of cabbage.
Of course, the cost of cabbage is not high, but it is a shame if the money is spent on an old and rotten head of cabbage. To prevent this from happening, before paying for the purchase, squeeze the cabbage with your hands. Fresh cabbage is dense, it is difficult to squeeze such a head of cabbage with your hands. If this is not the case, it will not crunch in a salad and when fermented, but in hot dishes it will look like cotton wool.
Pay attention to the stump. If it is long, this is a sign of old cabbage - the cunning seller simply cut off old leaves from the head to pass it off as fresh. Also, there should be no cracks, dark spots or dots on it, as well as on the leaves (this is a sign of rotting, fungus).
Helpful Hint: Don't buy a head of cabbage cut into halves or quarters. But if there is no other option, pay close attention to keep the cut fresh, white. A darkened cut is a sign that the cabbage has already begun to rot.
By the way, the cabbage leaves at the base of the head shouldn't be too thick. Such cabbage will grow if too much fertilizer has been used.
