Field guide · Spring

Spring greens

Couve-galega, the Galician cabbage, never makes a head. It grows on a tall stalk and is picked a few leaves at a time from the bottom up, until an old plant looks like a little palm. English has no good word for it; botany says collard, the app says spring greens. It is the green in caldo verde, the Minho soup, cut so fine it reads as thread, and supermarkets sell it ready shredded as couve ripada. Choose leaves that stand up stiff, with no yellow at the edges. Simplest thing to do with it: roll the leaves tight, slice them as thin as you can, and give them three minutes in hot broth.

Noted 2026-10-28