Compare prices for fresh green cabbage across Edmonton retailers.
Cabbage is harvested mature and does not ripen, sweeten, or improve after it is cut from the field, so choosing a fresh, solid head is the entire task. Pick a head that feels heavy and dense for its size — heft is the single best clue that the head is tightly packed inside rather than loose and puffy — and that stays firm with no give when pressed. The outer wrapper leaves should look bright and crisp and hug the head closely, and the trimmed stem end should be pale and dry rather than dark and dried-out; a few coarse, loose outer leaves are normal and actually protect what is underneath, so judge the head by its firmness rather than by those wrappers. Pass over heads that feel light or spongy, that have yellowing, wilted, or slimy outer leaves, black specks or spots on the leaves, or any cracking or bursting of the head, all of which signal age or a watery interior.
Because cabbage does not ripen, a firm, heavy head is ready to use the day you buy it, and the only real decision is how long you need it to keep — and cabbage is one of the longest-keeping vegetables in the store. Refrigerate it whole and unwashed, loosely covered in a plastic or perforated bag in the crisper; washing it first or sealing it airtight traps surface moisture and speeds decay. A sound head holds for two to three weeks this way, and the very dense storage cabbage common on Edmonton shelves through the winter — paler, rock-hard, and with its outer leaves already trimmed back — keeps for a month or more and is perfectly good rather than old. Once you cut into a head, wrap the remainder tightly and use it within a few days, as the cut surfaces brown and lose crispness and vitamin C quickly.
A cabbage is past its best when the head softens and gives under gentle pressure, when the outer leaves turn yellow, limp, or develop dark, water-soaked patches, or when the leaf edges go brown and slimy and the head gives off a strong sulfurous or sour smell — that slimy, foul breakdown is bacterial soft rot, and such a head should be discarded rather than trimmed. Milder problems are usually salvageable: a few yellowed or wilted wrapper leaves can simply be peeled away, and if the head beneath is firm and pale it is fine to use, while small black flecks on the outer leaves are cosmetic. When you cut open a questionable head, check the core and the spaces between the inner leaves — brown or black streaking there means decay has reached the centre and the head is done. In an Edmonton winter, remember that although cabbage tolerates cold well, it still freezes a little below 0 °C: a head left in a sub-zero vehicle develops translucent, water-soaked leaves that collapse into mush once they thaw, so bring it indoors promptly.
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