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Gizzi’s Seasons Eatings by Gizzi Erksine is a book I’ve reviewed here. Gizzi is British, actually British-Italian and her book radiates the holiday treats of both cultures. It is a bright, bright book. The colors, as you can see in the photo above, are quite intense. Our end of year holidays are filled with colors: deep red, green, blue, gold.

This recipe is red on red. While you might now automatically be a cabbage fan, if you add enough sweet and sour — vinegar and sugar and molasses — why even cabbage can tease your sweet tooth.

For a holiday meal, this makes a vibrant table presentation. And the taste is fortified enough to be quite a complement to turkey or pork chops or just plain old sausage. You need a robust red for the turkey route and, naturally, beer for your sausage.

Braised Sour Red Cabbage with Pomegranate

Yield: serves 4

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 red onions, thinly sliced

½ large red cabbage (or1 small one), cored and thinly sliced

3 ½ ounces red wine vinegar

5 ounces water

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 ounces pomegranate molasses 3

3 juniper berries

Pinch of ground clove

Seeds from ½ pomegranate s

Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Heat the olive oil in a large pan (I use a wok) and fry the onions gently for 8 minutes, or until they have softened and started to get a golden tinge. Add the cabbage and stir-fry for a further 5 minutes.

Pour over the vinegar, water and sugar, and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the molasses and spices, then pop a lid on and let it slowly simmer for 40 minutes. You may need to check the water level at this stage. What you’re looking for is that, when you move the cabbage away with a spoon, it slowly leaves a drool of lightly syrupy liquid. You don’t want it too dry, but not too wet either.

Season with salt and pepper and stir through the pomegranate seeds before serving.

Source: Gizzi’s Seasons Eatings by Gizzi Erksine [Mitchell Beazley, 2017]