Cavolo Cappuccio di Collina

The name is not a hill but a hamlet: Collina, in the comune of Forni Avoltri, between 1,100 and 1,330 metres under Monte Coglians, the highest of the Carnic Alps. The climate is cold, wet and cloudy, and the swing between day and night temperatures is exactly what the cabbage wants. With barley and rye it was one of the few things that would grow up there, and old people in the valley still call it by its dialect name, cjapût. The head is flattened rather than round, 20 to 30 cm across and 1.5 to 2 kilos, thin leaves with reddish veining, white within and pale green without.