Lacinato kale
Brassica oleracea 'Lacinato' · Brassica
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Lacinato kale — known in Italy as cavolo nero and in English markets as Tuscan kale or dinosaur kale — is the dark, dramatic strap-leaved kale: long, narrow, blade-like leaves with a deeply blistered, pebbled surface and a near-black blue-green colour that no other kale shares. Compared with frilly curly kale it is sweeter, more tender and markedly less bitter, with a cleaner, earthier, almost nutty flavour that holds its shape in long Tuscan stews yet is supple enough to eat raw, finely sliced, in a massaged salad.
Picking a good onedrag
Stiff and blue-greenYellow and limp
Shop freshEveryday bestThe all-rounder: raw or massaged, sautéed, braised, blitzed into soup.
LeafEven green, bloom rubbed off
The bendRib bends, leaf still stiff
Cut endRim drying, pale inside
SmellNeutral, a little cabbagey
These cues are Kale's, and hold across its varieties; where this one differs, its own page says so.
What you get from one
71%
Edible part
355 g · ribs and stems stripped
500 g
Weight each
each one
Keeping ittap a temperature
A domestic fridge holds it about 5× longer than the counter.
95–100%
Humidity
Loose, never sealed
Airflow