The cabbage (Brassica oleracea Capitata Group) is an edible plant of the Family Brassicaceae (or Cruciferae).

n North American cooking, cabbage is mainly used in coleslaw and sauerkraut; the latter is usually bought pre-prepared, as its production is time-consuming and smelly. Cabbage has somewhat fallen out of favor as an ingredient in North American soups and stews, perhaps because as a long-keeping, easy-to-grow vegetable, it's associated with poverty, and perhaps because the smell of a large pot of boiling cabbage is distinctive and lingering.

This is unfortunate, because as a minor ingredient in a soup or stew, cabbage brings a lot to the table. It's a source of umami and of sugars, and when allowed to stew in a dish until tender, brings a meaty, savory fullness to the dish. A soup or stew that includes cabbage as one of many ingredients doesn't stink up the house like a pot of cabbage soup would, and doesn't brew up flatulence in your belly. Eastern European cooking takes advantage of cabbage's stew-enhancing properties in such classic dishes as borscht with cabbage and beef.