Kale chips and chocolates conquer the world

Trendy vegetables Kale: Researchers want to breed the super-kale

28/11/2014

Kale is a traditional dish in northern Germany in the cold season. Usually the vegetables are cooked with bacon and sausage. While kale in the south of Germany leads a niche existence, it is increasingly gaining international success. First Lady Michelle Obama swears by kale chips and many of her countrymen on kale salad, pasta or on bread.

Kale enjoys increasing popularity in the US
Kale is a previously unrecognized superstar among the vegetables. Because it contains a lot of vitamin C and other valuable substances, such as mustard oil glycosides, which includes glucobrassicin. The latter plays a role in the prevention of cancer, especially in breast cancer, as it is able to neutralize toxins in the body. In addition, kale is said to help lower cholesterol levels. That this type of cabbage is still popular only in northern Germany and is also prepared without much variation usually as traditional dish with bacon and sausage, surprises in view of its nutrient diversity.

In the US one seems already to be one step further. There, kale is considered a trendy vegetable that is used in many different dishes. Above all, the First Lady, Michelle Obama, declared in the „Tonight "show that she swears on kale chips as a low-calorie snack." In many American restaurants „kale“ (Kale, as a salad or in combination with pasta, in casseroles or on bread offered. The raw food variety in smoothies is also becoming increasingly popular.

Kale can be prepared in many variants
In this country, kale is scarcely to be called trend vegetables, but increasingly, chefs are trying to find alternatives to traditional North German dishes. Thus, the native Nordhesse Andree Köthe offers in his restaurant „Essigbrätlein“ every year in Nuremberg new dishes with kale. The star chef juices the leaves, for example, for a cream or fries them crisp. „So it cracks a bit if you bite in, "Köthe told the news agency „dpa“. The traditional variant would not be well received in Bavaria.„There is sauerkraut for this, "says the star chef.

The Oldenburg confectioner and kale lover Christian Klinge has made a traditional temptation: The kale praline is indeed a calorie bomb, but enjoys more and more popularity throughout Germany. „That's a bit weird, "the 54-year-old admits to the news agency, but after a long try, he has developed a tasty combination of chocolate, kale, spinach powder and a dash of grain. „The chocolate dominated, the kale did not taste good, "says Blade of his first attempts, the color was also rather unappetizing at first.

The pastry chef explains his success with the Grünkohpraline also by the fact that it tastes little of the vegetables. She was sweet, not hearty.

Scientists want to breed the super-kale
Oldenburg biologists led by scientist Dirk Albach have a special interest in kale. They want to breed the perfect kale species. In the botanical garden of Oldenburg University Albach shows 40 different sorts of kale. Some are green, others reddish, some very luscious, others again puny. Kale can grow up to three meters high. But the scientists are more interested in the ingredients of the vegetables. The healthy nutrients are mainly contained in the particularly bitter kale species. Albach reports in a conversation with the news agency about a very mild strain: „Hardly bitter. This is Italian kale, which has the least bittersweet. "At the same time, unfortunately, only a few healthy ingredients. „There is no kale that can do anything, "said the biologist, so he and his students want to grow a kale that contains a lot of nutrients despite a mild aroma, and Albach reveals at the end of the conversation: „When you cook kale for an hour, all the varieties taste the same - and the good ingredients are gone.“

According to the German Farmers' Association, kale is grown nationwide only on 1000 hectares mostly in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. Carrots come in comparison to the tenfold acreage. (Ag)