All of the brassica family have an affinity with cream and cheese, yet it is those grown for their heads rather than their leaves that seem to get the comfort of dairy produce. Cauliflower and broccoli have long been served under a blanket of cheese and cream, but less so cabbage and the leafier greens. The reason, I have always assumed, is that the cabbage would be overcooked by the time the sauce has formed a crust in the hot oven. In practice, the “white” cabbages that sit on supermarket shelves like rock-hard footballs can be put to good use in a gratin. Their leaves and stalks are juicy when blanched in boiling water and the thicker leaves hold up very well under a sharp cheese sauce, flecked with nutmeg and hot white pepper. I mostly use a cabbage gratin as a friend for a piece of boiled ham or bacon, especially one that has been simmered in apple juice with juniper berries and onion, but sometimes we eat it as it comes, as a TV dinner, like cauliflower cheese. My suggestion of Cornish Yarg is only because I have used it here to good effect. Any briskly flavored cheese is suitable.
Recipe information
Yield
enough for 4 as a side dish
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Bring the milk, cloves, and bay almost to a boil, then turn off the heat. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
Step 2
Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour. Let it cook for a minute or two over medium heat, until it smells nutty. Pour in the milk and stir until it has thickened and any lumps have dissolved. If it remains stubbornly lumpy, then you had better get out the whisk. Season with salt, pepper (white would be a nice touch), and a grating of nutmeg. Stir in the heavy cream and the grated cheese.
Step 3
Bring a generous pan of salted water to a boil. Cut the cabbage in half and then into thick slices, like wedges of cake. Dunk the cabbage into the boiling water for a minute or two and then drain.
Step 4
Lay the cabbage pieces in a shallow ovenproof dish. Pour over the sauce, then scatter over the breadcrumbs. Bake for roughly forty-five minutes, until the crust is patchily golden, the edges bubbling enticingly.
