Cabbage No. 2 (Creamed)

A straightforward two-stage boil finished with white sauce, from an era when cabbage was cooked until fully soft. The main adjustment is time.

• The double boilTwenty minutes of total boiling, with the first water discarded, a change of water often explained at the time as a way to carry off cabbage's sulphurous smell. Shredded cabbage is tender in five to eight minutes in a single pot; longer than that and it turns grey and slack.
• Standing in waterThe recipe says only "let stand in water awhile"; a soak in cold water crisps the shreds and rinses out grit. Fifteen to twenty minutes is plenty; drain well or the cabbage will water down the sauce.
• Drain hardThis is the hinge. Cabbage holds a surprising amount of water, and white sauce added to a wet drain turns thin. Press the cabbage in the colander, or spread it on a towel, before saucing.
• White sauceThe period standard is 2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons flour and 1 cup milk, cooked until it coats a spoon. For about 1 1/2 lb of shredded cabbage, a cup to a cup and a half of sauce is right; season with salt, white pepper and a scrape of nutmeg.
• "Run into oven and brown"No temperature is given; a hot oven for ten to fifteen minutes, or the broiler for three or four, will do it. The dish is already cooked, so the only aim is colour on the crumbs.
• Buttered crumbsToss fresh crumbs with melted butter before they go on, roughly 1 tablespoon butter to 1/2 cup crumbs. Dry crumbs scattered on plain will scorch at the edges and stay pale in the middle.
• YieldNo quantity is given. Worked at the roughly 1 1/2 lb of shredded cabbage assumed above, this serves four to six as a side dish.