MAKE CABBAGE COOL AGAIN.

Meet the sweetest little cabbage in the world; the sugarloaf.

The cone-shaped sugarloaf cabbage is what cabbage should be – bright green, buttery, tender, sweet, nutty and quick to cook.  It’s what cabbage never is. Also known as hispi, or sweetheart, it is indeed sweet of heart.

Every year, we see a few more of them in the markets and at specialty greengrocers - and every year I snap them up as keenly as I do asparagus at the start of its season. The more people try them and like them, the more we build the market for the growers; hence the recipes here. (See stockists below).

People who don’t like cabbage will like sugarloaf. People who hate cooking cabbage – the smell – will love cooking sugarloaf.

It’s so tender you can slice it crosswise into tagliatelle-like tangles and cook it in simmering salted water for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and toss with a little butter and sea salt for a very lovely side to salmon, chicken, pork, or a great lamb stew.

I’ve taken that a step further with this recipe; a sneaky take on the Roman classic pasta, cacio e pepe ( cheese and pepper). You boil the sliced cabbage as if it were pasta - but only for a minute - then toss it into a hot pan with butter and the cooking water that clings to it. Agitate the pan back and forth over the heat as you add the cheese, and it will join with the butter and cabbage juices to form a lightly creamy emulsion that is stonkingly delicious.

CACIO E PEPE CABBAGE

• 1 sugarloaf cabbage, around 450g

• 2 tbsp butter, around 40 g

• 2 tbsp grated parmesan or pecorino or both

• Sea salt flakes and 1 tsp cracked black pepper

• Wedge of lemon, optional

Take off any rough outer leaves of the cabbage and give it a wash.

Cut crosswise into 1 cm slices, discarding the root at the base.

Cook in boiling salted water for just 1 minute until al dente, still firm to the bite.

Melt the butter in a fry pan, and when half-melted, transfer the cabbage to the pan with tongs, allowing some of the cooking water to come with it.

Toss the cabbage in the butter, add sea salt and half the pepper.

Agitate the pan back and forth on the heat as you add the grated cheese - you want the butter, cheese and cabbage juices to mingle together into a pale emulsion.

Tip out onto a warm serving plate, scatter with remaining black pepper and a final shower of grated cheese.

Serve with a wedge of lemon for squeezing. Serves 4 as a side.

Tip: You could do this with regular Savoy cabbage; it will just take a bit more par-boiling, ie 3 or 4 minutes. Also, I don’t want to over-sell the emulsion; be aware that it’s thin and creamy, not thick, but gee, it’s nice.

WHAT ELSE CAN I DO WITH IT?

Anything you can do with cabbage, you can do with sugarloaf; just try not to overload its natural sweetness and freshness. If you google hispi cabbage recipes, there seems to be an awful lot of unnecessary miso-charring out there. I bet it’s perfect for cole slaw, finely shaved. And it’s rather lovely roasted as well. Here you go.

CHEESY ROASTED CABBAGE

• 1 sugarloaf cabbage, around 450g

• 2 tbsp butter

• 2 tbsp finely grated parmesan or pecorino

• Sea salt and cracked black pepper

Heat the oven to 200C.

Cut the cabbage in half lengthwise and shave a little off the outside, so it will sit flat.

Arrange cut-side up on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Melt the butter and brush over the cut side, then scatter with grated cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes until the cabbage is golden and has softened and relaxed.

Give it more time if not soft enough, and drop the heat to 180C if it’s browning too much.

Serve hot.

WHERE CAN I FIND IT?

Queenslanders apparently see sugarloaf cabbages more often than more southern states. In NSW, you’ll find them at Harris Farm Markets, mainly from Victoria’s Peter Schreurs & Sons Vegetable Farm. In Victoria, most of them go to restaurants ( where they are most often listed on the menu as hispi), but Lou Ponte of Melba Fresh (who supplies all the top chefs) tells me the following fruiterers have bought them in the past, so give them a hoy: Toscano’s in Kew, Richmond and Toorak; Bocaccio Cellars in Balwyn, Piedimonte IGA in North Fitzroy, Richie’s Supermarkets, Veg Connection in Fitzroy, The Merchant Beaumaris, and Harvey’s of Highton in Geelong (also check out Asian markets).

If ever you think that food and cooking can be a bit boring and repetitive, the best antidote is to shake it up and try something new. It revitalises the senses and gets you back on track. And you meet some amazing people on the way if you’re lucky. Listen to what ground-breaking sugarloaf grower Peter Schreurs had to say when I contacted him (easy detective work - his name was on the bag).

“We are traditionally a cabbage growing family farm starting with my father who specialised in Savoy cabbage during the 80’s and 90’s” he said. (OMG, I remember thinking thank heavens for Savoy cabbages in the 1980s because all the others were enormous, white and boring). “In the 2000’s, we moved to growing miniature cabbages, but ceased this before 2010 to focus more on our leek, radicchio and kohlrabi crops.”

They continued to experiment with cabbage and then a few years ago felt there was a gap in the market. “We thought sugarloaf could fill that gap for those who thought cabbage is boring” he says. “I hope more people discover this tasty nutritious vegetable, and that cabbage will be cool again”.

(Such a good line, I made it the headline).

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Thanks for dropping by! And as always, thanks for your comments and suggestions. Special thanks to Terry for always keeping an eye out for sugarloaf when he’s shopping.

I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I fully support the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to be recognised in Australia’s Constitution.