This, I need hardly say, is a favorite country dish at the South.
The old-fashioned way of preparing it was to boil meat and cabbage
together, and serve, reeking with fat, the cabbage in quarters,
soaking yet more of the essence from the ham or middling about which
it lay. In this shape it justly earned a reputation for grossness and
indigestibility that banished it, in time, from many tables.
Yet it is a savory and not unwholesome article of food in winter, if
the cabbage be boiled in two waters, the second being the “pot liquor”
from the boiling meat. Drain thoroughly in a cullender, pressing out
every drop of water that will flow, without breaking the tender leaves;
and when the meat is dished, lay the cabbage neatly about it, and upon
each quarter a slice of hard-boiled egg.
When you eat, season with pepper, salt, and vinegar.