Guide to French Cabbages (Choux)

A guide to cabbages, different kinds of cabbage in France and how to cook it. Plus expressions in French - what is the meaning of chou and can you really call a girl "mon chou"?

Savoy curly cabbages at the French market

Cabbage Season

Autumn; Winter; Spring.
October - April. For red cabbage, July to March.

This superfood has been blessing our tables since the Romans. It's cheap, easy to prepare and healthy if not overcooked.

Did you know that the Greeks served raw red cabbage to newly-weds the next day? This was to help them recover their fertility from over-indulging on alcohol. It's thanks to Catherine de Medici who brought the cabbage to France in the 16th Century.

What is Cabbage in French?

Although pronounced the same 'shoo', in French, one or more cabbages are spelled differently. One cabbage is 'chou', whereas 2 or more cabbages are 'choux'.

Not to be confused with choux buns (pronounced the same). Choux pastry dough is used for making eclairs, profiteroles, réligieuses etc. and is made of water, milk, butter, sugar, eggs and flour.

cherry-pistachio choux buns — Mini choux buns with pistachio and cherry in my book, *Teatime in Paris*

French Expressions using Cabbages (Choux)

"Je suis dans les choux"
Slang expression in French means "I've failed" or "I've got so many problems" (literally translated as I'm in the cabbages, as choux sounds like from the verb, échouer, to fail)

Can A Girl be Called 'Mon Chou' in French?

These French expressions are all a cute term of endearment meaning sweetie, darling or honey. Literally translated as 'my cabbage' or 'my little cabbage'. So, you can indeed call a girl 'mon chou'.

mon chou
mon chou chou
mon petit chou

field of cauliflower leaves in Brittany, France

Cabbage Family and Types

In France, most cabbages are grown in Brittany, Nord-Pas de Calais and Rhône-Alpes and although 7th biggest producer in Europe (EuroStat, 2016, the most chou mad are Poland, Germany and Romania.

Cabbage is part of the Cruciferae or Brassica family, which is part of the mustards such colza, turnip and radish.

There are 2 types of cabbage: Oleacera and Rapa.

Oleacera: white, red (Chou Cabus), Savoy (round-headed Capitata), Kale or Spring (Sabellica). The others from the same family are the ones with flowers on the stalks such as cauliflower (Botrytis) and broccoli (Cymosa), Brussels sprouts or choux de bruxelles (Gemmifera).
Rapa: Chinese cabbage (Chinensis) such as Pak choï, Pé-tsaï.

various varieties of French cabbages at the market

What's the Healthiest and Most Tasty?

Without a doubt, to the French the Savoy cabbage is the king of choux as it contains the most vitamins and minerals. It's often recommended by our vegetable sellers at the market to eat it especially to help recover from an operation to help eliminate anaesthetic toxins in the body.

As chou-fleur also falls under cabbage, it's so important that it deserves its own cauliflower page.

large pan of sautéed Savoy cabbage leaves, tossed in caraway seeds

How to Cook Savoy Cabbage

One large Savoy cabbage goes a long way. For us, the most simple is delicious, panfried in a little water and served with roast chicken.
Here's how to cook cabbage the easiest way:

First discard the first outer leaves and remove the other large green ones;
Wash them well and cut out the hard vein in the centre;
Slice these leaves into strips then using the whole rest of the cabbage, thinly slice the rest cutting from the outside into the centre;
Sauté a garlic clove in some olive oil in a non-stick frying pan, add the cabbage, a teaspoon of caraway seeds (carvi) and a little water;
Turn over the cabbage and cook over a medium heat covered for no more than 15 minutes - it should be cooked and soft with still a slight bite to it, conserving its natural green and inside yellow colours.

Classic French Cabbage Recipes

White cabbage (choux blancs) is mainly used to make the popular winter dish from Alsace, Choucroûte (Sauerkraut) and in salads.

a crock pot mixed with cooking red cabbage, chopped apple and onions with spices, all mixed together rather than in layers

Red cabbage is popular cooked slowly in vinegar and apples. It's a recipe cited as Choux Rouges à la Flamande, by Chef Auguste Escoffier in his Guide to Modern Cookery (1903) and more widely known as German red cabbage. I also love to add some squeezed orange at the end of cooking, or squeeze in the juice of a couple of clementine oranges.

cooking pot with vibrant red cabbage cooked in vinegar, apple, onion and spices

"Quarter the cabbages, suppress the outside leves and the stumps, and cut the trimmed leaves into a fine julienne. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, sprinkle with vinegar and put this julienne into a well-buttered earthenware cocotte. Cover and cook in a moderate oven. When the cooking is 3-parts done, add 4 peeled and quartered apples and a tablespoonful of powdered sugar."
Chef Auguste Escoffier le Guide Culinaire (1903)