The Hungry Canary

Adapted from Ideals Family Cookbook · Mina Morris Scott

Swedish Red Cabbage

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Ingredients

  • 1 medium head red cabbage, sliced
  • ¼ cup butter
  • 3 Tbsp brown sugar
  • ¼ cup finely chopped fennel bulb (original: chopped onion)
  • 2 firm tart apples, sliced
  • 2 Tbsp vinegar
  • ½ tsp caraway seeds
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper (interpreted from unclear dictated measurement)
  • ½ cup grape juice

Directions

  1. Melt the butter in a large heavy pot and sauté the sliced red cabbage for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  2. Add the brown sugar, chopped fennel and sliced apples. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
  3. Stir in the vinegar, caraway seeds, salt, pepper and grape juice.
  4. Cover and simmer gently for 30–35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender.
  5. Serve hot alongside the meat course.

Cookbook source

“Swedish Red Cabbage,” contributed by Mina Morris Scott to the Ideals Family Cookbook. The original uses a medium red cabbage, butter, brown sugar, ¼ cup chopped onion, two firm tart apples, vinegar, caraway, salt, pepper and grape juice. It calls for sautéing the cabbage for five minutes, cooking five more minutes with apples, sugar and onion, then simmering covered for 30–35 minutes. Serve hot with a meat course.

Hungry Canary substitutions

Onion: Replace the original ¼ cup chopped onion with ¼ cup finely chopped fennel bulb, which complements apples and cooked red cabbage. Pepper: The dictated measurement was ambiguous (“¼ cup teaspoon pepper”); this page uses ¼ teaspoon as the likely intended amount, pending confirmation from the original print.

Flavor note

Grape juice, cider-like tartness from vinegar and apples, and fragrant caraway give this traditional-style side dish a sweet-and-sour character.