DEAR DAME EVELYN , The other day I went to the market and cabbages were on sale, and I don't know what came over me, but I bought some. They look like heads of lettuce and have that cabbagy smell – like brussels sprouts, which I hated when I was a kid and still hate. Now it's all I smell when I go into the kitchen. I am desperate. Can anything be done about cabbage? Or have I just been foolish and should just suffer in silence? Should I move? I see For Rent signs all over the place.

Desperado

My dear, I think you are being slightly unfair to the noble cabbage. Granted, there is a lack of glamour; the cabbage does conjure images of a gray winter in Warsaw, people in heavy woolen coats and hats, et cetera, traipsing through dispiriting snow. Very politburo, very General Jaruzelski! One does associate the cabbage with lean times in old Mitteleuropa. But do not give up hope! Think of the Tuscan sun and whip up a batch of Tuscan cabbage soup (recipe courtesy of a non-Tuscan friend of Dame Evelyn's): heat a few tablespoons of oil or butter in a soup pot (butter helps mute the cabbagy smell) and soften some chopped onion, carrot, and celery in it. Add a couple of small heads of cabbage, chopped, and cook a few minutes more, until the cabbage has wilted. Then add a small can of tomatoes (chopped), some dried rosemary, thyme, and oregano, a peeled and sliced potato, some cooked white beans – some pureed, if possible, to thicken the broth – and six or eight cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, until the potato chunks are cooked; adjust the seasonings (i.e., salt and pepper) and serve. Grated cheese goes nicely on the top. It will change your mind about cabbage, and if it doesn't, you can always make cole slaw the next time.

Headily, E. G.-S.