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Stone cold sober, this vegetable does pass for Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite sent into the earth’s orbit. The only thing is that Sputnik was 23cm in diameter, this veggie is about a quarter of the size. Sputnik was metallic while the kohlrabi comes either in a light green or purple variety.
According to Wikipedia (BTW I spotted the Sputnik thing before I looked it up) the name comes from the German words kohl (cabbage) and rabi (turnip). There there we have it, the cabbage turnip which is not actually a root vegetable but a brassic (cabbage) and grows half in and half out the soil.
When I looked-up the vegetable in excellent Antonio Carluccio’s Vegetables (there is one used copy available on Amazon for US$95!) he made reference to it being one of those Eastern European vegetables that are usually boiled up, a bit like turnips I suppose. The cabbage turnip is not a herb but it is well within the Rules of Kalyn’s Weekend Herb Blogging hosted this week by Ulrike of Kuchenlatein.
Now I have no idea if the Soviet engineers who put Sputnik into orbit were Kohlrabi nuts. Perhaps, as a vegetable ,it summed up their love for both cabbage and turnip. But I believe Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union after Stalin died who is fame for banging the heel of his shoe on the table during negotiations , ridiculed the American effort – the Vanguard satellite– as a grapefruit. Something must have grated.
Unlike Kruschev, I don’t actually personally hold anything against grapefruit and very often will eat a ruby one for breakfast. But to be quite honest I don’t really want any kind of grapefruit in this particular salad.
Thi salad is about Kohlrabi, usually julienned or put through a Japanese mandolin rather than grated. Sometimes a couple of my fingers go into the salad with the kohlrabi but usually I prefer to substitute a couple of firm young carrots and some crisp apple.
Now it’s time to toss through some dressing. I keep it simple with a little salt, cider vinegar (wine vinegar will do) and perhaps a macadamia or walnut oil (somehow olive just doesn’t seem right).
Ah, and today I will mix in some homemade mayonnaise.
I’m serving it with a rare griddled tuna steak and leaving the not insignificant task of bringing the cabbage turnip and grapefruit together in perfect harmony for another day.
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Glad they send a sputnik and not all the kohlrabi into the space. Thanks for joining the WHB this week again.
Love the idea of using it raw as a salad veggie. My parents used to grow this quite a few years ago and we kids turned up our noses at it. I haven’t tried growing it myself, but I do get them at the farmer’s market once in a while. I think I’ll try your idea when it gets to be that kind of weather here.
My daughter and I love kohlrabi. Tahnks for another variety and the overwhelming story. :))
Ed, there must be some connection between the Russian and Kohlrabi. I think because of the Russian influence during the 50s-80s, kohlrabi is grown and become very popular among the Vietnamese. I love love it in all forms, too!
Terrific idea! I’ve never thought to use it raw. My mom used to stuff them with a meat stuffing. But, I love the idea of the salad.
Anh…I keep forgetting about the Russian influence. Sher..and I should probably ty cooking it.
Oh, I saw this at the Asian grocery yesterday along with all those seasonal veges for the chinese new year. Did not know what to do with this, but think I got some ideas now. Thanks for sharing, cheers !:)