What is the history of kale?

Answer 1

Kale, also known as borecole, has been cultivated for over 2,000 years. The wild Brassica oleracea plant is native to the Mediterranean region. Soon after the domestication of plants began, people in the Mediterranean region began growing the plant as a leafy vegetable. Because people grew the plants for their leaves, they selected the seeds from the largest-leafed plants to plant the following year. By the 5th century B.C., continued propagation of ever-larger leaves had led to the development of the vegetable we now know as kale.

Over the centuries, some people preferred plants with a tight cluster of tender young leaves in the center of the plant at the top of the stem, and they selected and propagated for those characteristics. Continued selective breeding of these plants over the centuries resulted in the gradual formation of a dense cluster of leaves at the top of the plant. Eventually, the cluster of leaves became so large, it tended to dominate the whole plant, and the head of cabbage had developed. Although they appear very different, kale, collards, cabbage, kohlrabi, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts are all varieties of the same species, Brassica oleracea. The only difference between these plants are the differences that humans introduced over thousands of years of selective cultivation. Kale is known botanically by the name Brassica oleracea acephala which translates to "headless garden cabbage."

In much of Europe, kale was the most widely eaten green vegetable until the Middle Ages, when many people began to prefer the newer varieties of cabbage. Historically, kale has been particularly important in colder regions due to its resistance to frost. Kale was grown as a staple crop in the the Scotland due to its extreme hardiness, and people built walled kale yards to give it protection from the elements. Almost every house had a kale yard and preserved kale in barrels of salt, similar to sauerkraut in Germany. They also fed it to livestock through the winter. In nineteenth century Scotland, kail was used as a generic term for 'dinner' and all kitchens featured a kail-pot for cooking. Kale continued to be extremely important in the British Islands until potatoes surpassed them towards the end of the 18th century.