Taking an evening stroll in my brother's Ka'a'awa neighborhood a few years back, I peeked over a fence and cried, "Look! Portuguese cabbage! I haven't seen that since Grandpa's garden."

"Oh, yeah," he said, "that's Gerard Vincent's. I bet he'd let you have some."

I finally got up the courage to ask if Mr. Vincent would start a plant for me, and he said there was nothing simpler: Just stick a cutting in the dirt. Now I've got a Portuguese cabbage of my own, thriving in a pot on our walkway. Last week, I made grelos — stir-fried cabbage in the Portuguese style.

Portuguese cabbage is among the many all-butforgotten forms of ethnic produce that once flourished in backyard gardens here. Portuguese call cabbage "couves" (KOOV-zsh). But by that, they don't mean the tight, rolled heads of standard cabbage.

Portuguese cabbage is broad-leafed and bright green with white midribs, the leaves growing outward from a central stalk in a spiral fashion. It is generally called in Portuguese couve tronchuda (a corruption of Trauxuda, the region of Portugal from which it was first imported). According to gardening resources, its family name is Brassica oleracea var. costata.

Although you can substitute kale for Portuguese cabbage, I prefer collard greens because they come much closer to the tender and delicate texture of the cabbage I remember from Grandpa's garden. This, we put into our Portuguese bean soup. It is the main ingredient in the national soup of Portugal, caldo verde ("green soup").

Online, with help from a gardening column in The Washington Post, I found a source for seeds: Redwood City Seeds (650-325-7333, www.ecoseeds.com); you can get a packet for $3.50 plus $2 shipping. Or just try to find a friendly Portuguese gardener who will cut you a slip, like my pal, Mr. Vincent.

To make grelos, roll 4 to 6 washed Portuguese cabbage or collard green leaves into a tight cylinder and cut very thinly across the grain. Pour a little olive oil into a frying pan, or spray with olive oil cooking spray. Saute 2 minced garlic cloves over medium heat until golden, add cabbage and saute, stirring, until bright green. Salt and pepper to taste. Some recipes call for thinly sliced onion, which would be sauteed with the garlic. If you use kale, you need to cook it longer and add 1/2 cup or so of boiling water or chicken broth with the vegetable, so it cooks through.

Send recipes and queries to Wanda A. Adams, Food Editor, Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802. Fax: 525-8055. E-mail: wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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