CabbageFun food facts

  • The word “cabbage” comes from the French word “caboche,” an everyday word for “head.”
  • Cabbage is a source of vitamin C and fibre. Cool!
  • You can find different types of Ontario cabbage in your grocery store all year round. In 2018, more than 128 million pounds of red and green cabbage were grown in Ontario. That's more than 5,000 school buses!

Brain teaser

Cabbage is part of the cruciferous family of vegetables. What other vegetables belong to this family?

  1. cauliflower
  2. bok choy
  3. broccoli
  4. kale
  5. Brussel sprouts

Answer: All of them!

Photo Courtesy of Holland Marsh Growers' AssociationFood quest

Cabbage chemistry

Rev up for some kitchen kookiness! Red cabbage juice is a great way to find out if a liquid is an acid or base.

Kids' chemistry 101

  • Acid - The word acid comes from the Latin word for “sour”. Acids usually have a sour taste (think of lemons).
  • Bases - These are the opposite of acids. They taste a chalky or bitter and feel soapy or slippery.

The cabbage juice has special compounds called anthocyanins that will turn different shades of red when mixed with acids, and different shades of blue when mixed with bases. Ask an adult to help you with this cool experiment.

You'll need:

  • 1/2 head of red cabbage
  • Large bowl
  • Grater
  • Cold water
  • Strainer
  • Plastic container
  • Four clear plastic cups
  • Baking soda
  • Liquids found in your own kitchen to test: lemon juice, vinegar, milk, fruit juice, and baking soda.

What to do:

  1. Grate the red cabbage into a large bowl.
  2. Cover the cabbage with cold water and let it sit for 45 minutes.
  3. Strain the juice into a plastic container.
  4. Pour equal amounts of cabbage juice into the clear plastic cups.
  5. Add 1 teaspoon of baking soda to three cups. The baking soda, which is a base, will turn the cabbage juice blue.
  6. Now you can test different liquids to see if it will change the cabbage juice back to its original colour. The cup without the baking soda is called the “control” – this is the colour you’re trying to match.
  7. Test your liquids one teaspoon at a time.
  8. If the test liquid turns the colour back to the original, then it is probably an acid.
  9. If the colour remains blue, then it’s probably not an acid.