Cabbage can be enjoyed in many different delicious ways and is loaded with nutrients, but when you cook it, it does leave the kitchen with a less than appetizing aroma.  Thankfully, whether you are cooking a green cabbage, cauliflower or brussel sprouts, there are a few tricks you can use to minimize the unpleasant cabbage smell.  And as the French would say: “c’est bête comme chou” (literally translates to “it’s as stupid as a cabbage”) meaning “it’s as easy as pie.” — love these food idioms!  So check below for Art of the Home three easy tips to see how you can easily get rid of cabbage smell in your kitchen.

3 Easy Tricks to Reduce Cabbage Smell

 Cauliflower (Choux-fleurs) from our French Farmers Market

Art of the Home Tip to Minimize Cabbage Smell

1. Slice of bread: Put a slice of bread (if you have stale bread, even better!) in your cooking water.  The bread will absorb some of the odors.
2. Lemon juice: You can also pour the juice of half a lemon in the cooking water.  This will also reduce the bad smell resulting from cooking cabbage.
3. Fresh air: Now whether you use #1 or #2, or #1 and #2 combined, there is no miracle here.  Cabbage smell is pretty strong (and gets stronger the longer you cook it by the way) so keep in mind that those tricks will only reduce the cabbage odor, it does not completely eliminate it.  Weather permitting, it’s always a good idea to open your window when cooking, this will help too!