A food critic who helped make kale popular now thinks it's totally overrated
In 1976, New York Times food critic Mimi Sheraton wrote about the virtues of kale. At the time, the green was pretty obscure in America, but Sheraton helped make it popular. She praised it for its high vitamin content and broccoli-like taste, and the superfood started taking off. Now, it's ubiquitous.
Sheraton is having regrets. In an essay for The Daily Beast titled "I'm Sorry for Helping Make Kale Cool," she writes:
In other words, kale isn't served right anymore. It's best used as a niche, winter-only vegetable. Unlike most greens, kale benefits from the cold because "the frozen cell walls would expand and break, thereby tenderizing the fibrous stalks before cooking."
Sheraton told NPR that grilling and roasting kale is totally wrong. And drying it into hard chips brings out kale's dirty, bitter flavors.
Kale is best served soft and with fat, Sheraton said:
So there you have it: chill out with the kale. Have it just during the winter, after it's been frozen, and cook it so that it becomes soft, not dry and crispy.