Collard greens are various loose-leafed cultivars of Brassica oleracea (Acephala Group), the same species that produces cabbage and broccoli. The plant is grown for its large, dark-colored, edible leaves and as a garden ornamental, mainly in Brazil, Portugal, the Southern United States, many parts of Africa, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, southern Croatia, Spain and in Kashmir. They are classified in the same cultivar group as kale and spring greens, to which they are extremely similar genetically. The name collard is a shortened form of the word colewort (“cabbage plant”).
The plant is also called couve in Brazil, couve-galega in Portugal, “kovi” or “kobi” in Cape Verde, berza in Spanish-speaking countries, Raštika in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Raštan in Montenegro. In Kashmir it is called haak. In Congo, Tanzania and Kenya (East Africa) the plant is called Sukuma wiki.
North America
Collard greens are a staple vegetable of southern U.S. cuisine. They are often prepared with other similar green leaf vegetables, such as kale, turnip greens, spinach, and mustard greens in “mixed greens”. They are generally eaten year-round in the South. Typical seasonings when cooking collards can consist of smoked and salted meats (ham hocks, smoked turkey drumsticks, pork neckbones, fatback or other fatty meat), diced onions, vinegar, salt, and black, white, or crushed red pepper. Traditionally, collards are eaten on New Year’s Day, along with black-eyed peas or field peas and cornbread, to ensure wealth in the coming year, as the leaves resemble folding money.[citation needed] Cornbread is used to soak up the “pot liquor”, a nutrient-rich collard broth. Collard greens may also be thinly sliced and fermented to make collard kraut, which is often cooked with flat dumplings.
Brazil and Portugal
Caldo verde is a very popular Portuguese soup made of collard greens.
In Portuguese and Brazilian cuisine, collard greens (or couve) are common accompaniments of fish and meat dishes. They are a standard side dish for feijoada, a popular pork and beans-style stew. The leaves are sliced into strips, 1 to 3 mm wide (sometimes by the grocer or market vendor, with a special hand-cranked slicer) and sautéed with oil or butter, flavored with garlic, onion, and salt. Sometimes, it is also eaten fresh.
Thinly sliced collard greens are also the main ingredient of a popular soup, caldo verde (“green broth”).
The juice pressed from fresh leaves and leaf stalks, taken regularly, is popularly believed to be a remedy for gout, bronchitis, and blood circulation problems.
Kashmir
In Kashmir, both leaves and roots are consumed. Leaves in the bud are harvested by pinching in early spring, when the dormant buds sprout and give out tender leaves. Also, seedlings of 35–40 days’ age as well as mature plants are pulled out along with roots from thickly sown beds. When the extending stem bears alternate leaves in quick succession during on-season, older leaves are harvested periodically. Before the autumn season, the apical portion of stem is removed along with the whorled leaves.
The roots and the leaves may be cooked together or separately. A common dish is haak rus, a soup of whole collard leaves cooked in water, salt and oil, usually consumed with rice. The leaves are also cooked along with meat, fish or cheese In winter, collard leaves and roots are fermented to form a very popular pickle called haak-e-aanchaar.
Egypt
In Egypt, collard greens, called sel’ (with the apostrophe denoting a glottal stop) are used solely in a garlicky soup with colocasia, or taro root.