Chou à l’Anglaise

Chou à l’Anglaise (plain boiled or steamed cabbage) teaches one severe and useful lesson: cooking water is not sauce. The cabbage must become tender, then be pressed until it can no longer dilute the roast juices or gravy beside it. That pressing is not tidying. It is the dish.

The original entry assumes a professional cook who can choose a brigade quantity and judge tenderness without a clock. There is no saucier, standing stock, or salamander to replace here. For the home table, I have fixed the quantity at one medium cabbage, given clear boiling and steaming times, and kept the original two-plate press exactly as written. The unwritten batch judgment was scaffolding; the cook, press, and cut sequence must stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.

You want supple leaves and tender ribs, never cabbage collapsing into threads. The one step that matters most comes after the pot: press out every drop you reasonably can. If the first pressing leaves the cabbage wet, pour away the liquid and press again. Ça se rattrape.