To serve 4 as a starter or 8 as a side

There is nothing like a market stall piled high with cabbages in a huge variety of shades from pure white to bright lime green or deep purplish red. Some may be larger than your head, their huge leaves used for stuffing; some may be small and crunchy and perfect for salad; some may be more fibrous, lending themselves to slow stewing. White cabbage is possibly the most underrated of all, but we absolutely love it. This is hands down the best way to eat any cabbage. You don’t even really need the dressing if you don’t fancy it – just grill a cabbage and eat it.

Honey & Co: Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around the Levant  Honey & Co: Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around the Levant by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich. Patricia Niven/Pavilion

Ingredients:

  • 1 large, round white cabbage

  • 2 tbsp olive oil flaky sea salt



    For the dressing:

  • 2 banana shallots, peeled and finely chopped

  • 2 red chillies, halved, deseeded and thinly sliced

  • 6 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

  • 100 g / 31⁄2 oz butter

  • 1 tsp flaky sea salt

  • 1 small bunch of dill, fronds roughly chopped


 Instructions:

Cut the cabbage into four or six wedges, depending on how large it is, and brush the cut surfaces with olive oil. Set the wedges cut-side down on a very hot grill to char for 4 minutes, then flip and grill the other cut surface for 4 minutes. Finally set the wedges on their rounded sides for a final 4 minutes, just to soften the cabbage a little. Remove to a platter and sprinkle with a little flaky sea salt.

While the cabbage is charring, combine the shallots, chilli and garlic with the butter and set in a small pan on the side of the grill over a low- moderate heat, enough to just melt the butter and lightly confit the vegetables. Stir occasionally, cooking for about 12–14 minutes or until the shallots are soft and look translucent. Remove from the heat, add the salt and chopped dill and mix well. Pour the butter dressing all over the warm cabbage and serve straight away for best results.


To cook without a BBQ:

Use a lightly oiled, preheated griddle pan on your stovetop and cook the cabbage wedges just as you would on the fire. Prepare the dressing on your stove too, in a small pan over a low heat.


Reprinted with permission from Honey & Co: Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around the Levant by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich, Pavilion 2021. 


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