Aside from its origins, kale has always been an important staple in people’s diets during difficult times. This is mainly because it is so easy to grow and is resistant to cold temperatures so if things are bad, you kind of know that kale will most likely be around. Plus it’s high levels of – well everything – make it a valuable vegetable as well. It has a few different traditions depending on the country.
In France, there is not clear answer as to when or how the French ate it but it was definitely at one time something that was grown and eaten. To the French, kale is part of the légume oublié category (lost & forgotten vegetables). And in fact kale is so lost and so forgotten (compared to parsnips or turnips or sunchokes) that many farmers did not know what it was! That’s not to say that in more rural parts of the country that people do not grow it in their gardens, but generally speaking, it was a very very forgotten vegetable.
The assumption is that during WWI or WWII, kale fell out of fashion because it was all that people could eat and that in areas like Paris, the urban energy and lifestyle did not lend itself to eating kale. I find that reason hard to believe because you can still find savoy cabbage easily and everywhere – and the taste and texture of savoy cabbage comes nowhere close to kale. But that’s just me… the kale girl.
In America, up until recently, kale was just a vegetable that hippies and vegans ate. You could find it at a food co-op or as a garnish at a restaurant. I grew up seeing kale on top of ice at restaurant salad bars wondering why what my mom actually cooked was just on the side. It was soul-food. The majority of Americans had no idea what it was… but you could still find it.