Botanical name: Brassica oleracea
Group: Acephala
Kale was grown by the Greeks and the Romans and hasn’t changed much since then. It is probably the most respected representative of the Old World cabbages. Latin culis (stem) is the root of the group of words for cabbage. Acephala (headless) is the designation that separates most kale and collards from other cabbages, for the two grow in the form of a loose bouquet, not in a tight head. The leaves of the kale plant provide an earthy flavor and more nutritional value for fewer calories than almost any other food around.
Nutritional Value: Kale is a leafy green vegetable that belongs to the Brassica family, which has gained recent attention due to health promoting, sulfur-containing phytochemicals. It is virtually loaded with calcium, potassium, indoles (cancer-fighting substances), beta-carotenes, and other antioxidants. Collards have the same nutrients, but in lesser concentration. Nutritional Data
Selection: Choose comparatively deep-colored bunches with moist, small to medium leaves. Avoid dried, browned, yellowed, or coarse-stemmed plants. It is best when not too crisp.
Storage: Wrap kale in plastic or an airtight container and keep very cold—near freezing if possible—or it may acquire a pronounced elderly cabbage taste. It should not be refrigerated more than a few days or it loses its fresh green flavor. To avoid yellowing, keep kale far from climacteric fruits (ones which continue to ripen), such as apple, avocado, banana, peach, pear, plum, tomato and most tropical fruits.
Kale is underused except by people of Northern European stock, where these over wintering cabbages have been used extensively in cookery since the Middle Ages. It needs no explanation in Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands and above all Scotland, where “come to kail” meant an invitation to dinner, with or without the green.
Preparation: Kale leaves that are very small or will be long-cooked need not be stripped from the stems; cut off the base of the stems, then slice leaves to suit and wash. For larger leaves or shorter cooking, either hold a stem with one hand and run a knife long each side to cut off the leaf halves; or hold the folded leave halves together and pull them free of the stem.

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