CAVOLO NERO

[tracie]

Hi everybody,

happy digging and growing for next year.

The new seeds of Italy catalogue has just hit the door mat and looking through I thought I might have a go at growing cavolo nero (black kale).

Has anybody tried this before. do you treat it just like normal kale?, what is the best way to cook it?.

Any hints or tips would be greatly appreciated

Tracie

[alan refail]

Tracie

As a fan of both Cavolo Nero and Seeds of Italy, I offer you a short answer - Grow it.

Yes, treat it as normal kale. Pick leaves as you need them, and when it starts going to seed, eat the flower shoots.

As for recipes, google cavolo nero and you will get plenty of ideas - the traditional Italian one is Ribollita - a fantastic soup.

Buon appetito - Enjoy

Alan

[tracie]

Hi Allen ,

thanks for your reply, do you need to protect the crop from the pigeons and cabbage white butterfly or can it be left uncovered?.

I have an Italian friend who I will ask about Ribollita.


regards

Tracie

[alan refail]

do you need to protect the crop from the pigeons and cabbage white butterfly or can it be left uncovered?.

If you have problems with these, cover it. I grow it in the polytunnel, so have no problems.

Alan

[Weed]

I tried Kale for the first time two years ago and although the crop was excellent the infestation of white fly was off putting to say the least ...hence I didn't grow any last year.
Any hints on dealing with white fly preferably without spraying with a pesticide?

[alan refail]

Weed

Grow inside, or move to NW Wales - whitefly what's that

Fair play, though, it was a pain in the a**e when I lived in Leeds.

Alan

[tracie]

I have some on my purple sprouting, if you give it a good shake most of it dissapearsif you are lucky.

Tracie

[pongeroon]

YES! Big problems with whitefly this season. We usually ignore it and the cold weather gets rid of it, but it did a lot of damage this time. We sprayed with soft soap, but the damage was done by the time we got around to it.
But it is well worth growing, even though we have to cover to keep off rabbits, pigeons, butterflies etc etc. In a good year we have had more than we can eat all winter. We chop it fairly fine and steam it (unless we decide to do something more fancy) and we love it.

[tracie]

Thanks very much for your reply, think I might have a go and see how I get on.

Tracie

[Monika]

Hello, Tracie, we grew cavolo nero for the first time this year and it's great. We grow curly kale and kale Ragged Jack every year (the latter seeds itself anyway) and the cavolo nero has been a worthwhile addition. It was sown about April, transplanted into the brassica bed and has stood the recent frosts very well.

I made some potato and kale soup with it today, lovely.

[Gerry]

Hello Tracie, I grew it last year for the first time and it's superb. I covered it with mesh over steel hoops. It grew so well it lifted the mesh off the hoops and I had no pidgeon or cabbag white damage but the lower leaves did have a lot of very small snails on them. This was easily dealt with by removing lower leaves.
Regards Gerry.

[mazmezroz]

Yes, I grow Cav Nero. It's covered with net to stop the pigeons and it was invaded by caterpillars in September, but is looking lovely and healthy in my winter veggie garden at the moment. It's tall and architectural, rather like miniature palm trees! And a lovely rich dark green.

I would love to hear how people cook it. We have put it into wholesome Italian soups and casseroles, but any other ideas would be good.

[Chantal]

We chop up some garlic and a little chilli, fry that off then add a little white wine and chuck in the Nero and shake it around for a couple of minutes. It's scrummy.

[Colin_M]

Hi mazmezroz, I have very little expertise in this, this being the first year I've grown any Kale (never mind Cav Nero).

So far, I have tried a pan-sauted version like Chantal, steamed for 3-5 mins, plus just mixed in at the later stages of cooking risotto etc.

What's nice compared to other brassicas is that C.N. seems to retain a bit more texture and colour after cooking. The taste is nicely full on too, without being bitter.

Definitely going in again this coming year!!


Colin

[Monika]

Coming back to the cooking part: to use it as a separate veg, I steam it for a few minutes, then chop it, bung it in a bowl with some salt and freshly ground pepper and mix in a spoonful of creme fraiche (half fat), then heat it quickly in the microwave.

When washing Cavolo Nero, make sure that no cabbage white caterpillars are hidden in the "curls" of the leaves!!