FROM PATCH TO PLATE: MATTHEW

FROM PATCH TO PLATE ort

In praise of kale – an often overlooked yet extremely versatile, wonderfully healthy addition to the table

Did you know that the Scots used to call their kitchen gardens the kailyard, so great was their love of this inestimable vegetable? I’m with the Scots on this. Kale is a swashbuckling vegetable. It thrives when lesser vegetables wither and wilt. It is pleasingly easy to grow, tolerant of casual treatment and cold. As the great Dr D G Hessayon put it in his still invaluable work The Vegetable & Herb Expert, “The hardiness of kale is unexcelled by any other vegetable – there is none of the heartache in seeing all one’s handwork destroyed by sharp and prolonged frost.” Heartache, indeed.

In addition, kale is a most handsome addition to the vegetable patch. Or perhaps that should be kales, because there are many kinds – Red Russian, Curly, Redbor, Cavolo Nero, Gai Lan (or Chinese kale), Sea kale, Scarlett, Tronchuda kale (from Portugal), Walking Stick kale – each with a different-shaped leaf, green hue and flavour. They add individual and decorative shapes at a time of the year when, let’s face it, individuality and decoration are in short supply in the average kitchen garden. There’s even a quite recent addition to the kale family – kalettes, small, frilly things that are a cross between kale and Brussel sprouts and can be cooked much the same way as the two vegetables from which they were developed.

Which brings me on to yet another of kale’s many virtues – its versatility. Its subtly different flavours bring light and life to a multitude of dishes. Strip the green leaf off the stalk or rib, which no amount of cooking seems to reduce to tenderness. Once that’s done, put it raw in smoothies and those blended drinks designed to start or end your day with a healthy zip; or chopped up fine in salads. Stew it (in oil with garlic, chilli and pork meat balls) or boil it (and dress it with olive oil and lemon juice). Add it to soups ands stews. It is even possible to make crisps out of them because kale leaves have enough structure to be deepfried (briefly). If you don’t have a deep fat fryer, coat them in a little vegetable oil, dust with salt, lay the leaves reverently on a non-stick sheet and bake in a low oven (150°C/fan 130°C/gas mark 2) for 20–30 minutes. Cool and enjoy the fragile, joyously crispy result. Finally of course, kale is healthy, very, very healthy, packed with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and the like and high up every nutritionists must-eat selection. Good for your heart, good for your immunity, good for your bones, good for your blood pressure. All in all, I find it very odd that kale hasn’t had many champions in the kitchen until quite recently, the Scots aside. I’ve searched in vain through the works of such guiding lights as Elizabeth David, Jane Grigson, or even Dorothy Hartley for praise of kales, other than the odd passing reference to that old Victorian favourite, sea kale. They didn’t know what they were missing. ■ A splendid winter warmer. The kale adds a most agreeable bite to a traditional combination.

Serves 4

About Matthew Best known as a judge on BBC’s Great British Menu, Matthew is an award-winning food writer and critic. He was the Food & Drink Editor of The Guardian for 15 years and is the author of four books.

KALE, SPLIT PEA AND HAM HOCK STEW

INGREDIENTS

1 ready-cooked ham hock 250g yellow split peas Water 2 onions, sliced 2 sticks of celery 300g cavolo nero or other kale, leaves stripped from the stalks and roughly chopped Vegetable oil 1 tbsp French mustard Salt and black pepper

METHOD

• Soak the ham hock overnight to reduce the saltiness. • Put into a pan with the split peas.

Cover with water. Cook until the split peas are soft, about 35 minutes or so. • Drain off some of the liquid if necessary. • Take out the ham hock and cut off the meat into small bits and pieces before adding them back into the split peas. • Chop the onion and celery finely and the kale leaves less finely. • In a second pan heat some vegetable oil and gently fry the onion, celery and kale leaves until soft. • Tip in the plit peas and ham. Stir in the mustard and stir some more to mix properly. • Reheat for 5 minutes or so.