Fried Cabbage with Garlic

This recipe I learned from our friend Liliane, in Paris in 1991. Dani was doing his sabbatical in France, at Insead, and we spent 5 months there. I often went to the fruit and vegetable market with our friend Liliane, and she taught me many things in the realm of food and cooking.
The cabbages in France are delicioius, with curly leaves which are a deep dark green color. Perfect for cooking. I had never thought I would like cooked cabbage. But one evening when we were having dinner together, Liliane served this cabbage, and I loved it. It is so easy to make, and a wonderful, basic addition to any meal.

A year later, after we were back in Israel, Dani returned to France to do the second half of his sabbatical.
He would fly to France every Sunday, and return to Israel every Thursday evening. He would always bring with him three things for the weekend: 1. A big cabbage 2. French cheeses. 3. French bread.

Our family’s custom of Shabbat brunch was born as a direct result of the weekly arrival of the French bread and cheeses……., and in those years the family would often gather on Saturday noon for brunch. That of course has nothing to do with cabbage, but I was just reminiscing about those years.

P.S. I use garlic in this recipe; I am not sure if this was called for in the original recipe, or if it got added through the years.

Ingredients:

• 1 green cabbage
• 1 clove of garlic
• some olive oil
• coarse salt
• coarsely ground black pepper

Preparation:

1. Wash and cut the cabbage into medium size chunks.
2. Finely chop the garlic clove.
3. Place cabbage and garlic in a heavy, non-stick pot or deep frying pan, with some olive oil, a sprinkling of coarse salt, and coarsely ground black pepper.
4. Cook on low flame, covered. Occasionally mix the cabbage so that all of it touches the bottom of the pot at some point.
5. Cook for about an hour, on low flame. The cabbage should be softened (but not mushy), and slightly browned. Do not let the cabbage get too brown.
6. Serve.

Tip: the dark, curly leaf green cabbages are perfect for this recipe; here in Israel I have only seen this type once or twice in all the years, so I have no choice but to use the regular, smooth-leaf, light green cabbage; the result is good, but I definitely prefer the curly dark green cabbages. So, this is the perfect excuse to go to Paris, right? After all, they say it’s good for our health……