conuly | Today's xkcd:

Clicky!

And this is the related NPR article, for those of you who'd rather click a link than type one out.

I had no idea about the breeding program! I thought they just tasted better than we've been told because everybody now knows not to boil brassicas. (NEVER boil a brassica.)

They look cool and surreal on the stem, too, like something out of Seuss.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

siderea

NEVER boil a brassica

How do you make traditional New England Boiled Dinner?

From:

conuly

I don't, and I credit my health and happiness to this very fact.

From:

mtbc

My grandmother thought the best thing was to boil vegetables for at least an hour or two. It was horrible.

From:

mindstalk

"England conquered half the world in a quest for better food, and came up with English cooking."

From:

conuly

Who said that?

From:

mindstalk

I have no record.

From:

conuly

Sounds like!

From:

siderea

You are missing out! Assuming you like corned beef as well as cabbage. Cabbage boiled in seasoned broth with other winter veggies and a chunk of flavorful meat is heavenly. Augh now I'm jonesing and it's only December and the meat won't go one sale until March.

From:

gatheringrivers

If you want to make it yourself, Alton Brown has a lovely recipe, it takes about a week in the fridge, just need a big enough bag, or a big dish with a lid.

From:

adrian_turtle

How do you feel about soup, generally? There are people that just don't see the point, and people who are very, very picky (only clear chicken broth with matzo balls, and the matzo balls must be made with seltzer and without nutmeg.) There are many excellent soups that are just wasted on such people.

From:

conuly

Soup is soup. I always make mine too thick, though.

From:

adrian_turtle

I like cauliflower soup with onion, tart apple, and coconut milk (some prefer cream.)
I like Caldo Verde, the Portuguese soup based on sausage, kale, and white beans.
I like sweet and sour cabbage soup.
None of them are PLAIN boiled cruciferous vegetables, and they all benefit from a bit of acid.

From:

thawrecka

I should probably not admit that I very much enjoyed boiled brussels sprouts as a small child 30 years ago.

From:

frith

The best ones were the 'sprouts that had a touch of pink inside. ^_^ I don't remember brussel sprouts being particularly bitter. Now raw endives (as a salad), that's bitter.

From:

conuly

Gasp!

From:

james

Roasted brussel sprouts. Mmmmmm.

From:

conuly

Yup.

From:

cactuswatcher

Actually you can boil them, but just till they are blanched. They'll be fine. NEVER boil them till they are completely soft. Women my mother's generation cooked the hell out of them for safety reasons. Fortunately, that's not necessary anymore.

In truth, I like broccoli at all stages: raw, blanched and mush. Much the same with cauliflower, though it's better with at least a little texture. (I like slaw made with cauliflower a lot.)
I like cabbage raw and blanched, not as much when it's mush
I like Brussels sprouts blanched, but it takes a different sort of a person to want to eat them once the sulphur is released.
I don't like turnips any way but raw, and I haven't had rutabaga any way I've liked it.

From:

conuly

Blanching is only boiling in a very technical sense.

From:

thewayne

Peel off a few outer layers, cut in half, toss in EVO, salt and pepper, roast, drizzle with pomegranate molasses, add freshly fried bacon bits. I'm planning on doing this for Festivus in Phoenix.

From:

conuly

Saute WITH the bacon (already cut small) or pancetta over a low flame, take off heat once browned nicely on the cut side, add sour cream, salt, pepper.

From:

thewayne

I'm thinking a small test batch with maple syrup as we have our holiday luncheon at the library Friday....

From:

nostalgia

I should check them out again in that case.

From:

nostalgia

PS for YEARS I thought I hated onions, because my granny boiled them. Then at uni a friend gave me some fried onions and I was like "HOLY SHIT THESE ARE ACTUALLY NICE?????" and now I regularly eat fried onions.

My granny boiled everything, I think it's the only sort of cooking she knew how to do. I wonder what else she made me hate that is actually nice?

From:

conuly

That your maternal grandmother or the other one?

From:

nostalgia

Maternal. My other granny mostly just fed me cold meat.

From:

okojosan

The Brussels sprouts information is fascinating! My mom never cooked them- she didn't like them, so I never had them as a kid. A couple of my friends raved about roasted Brussels sprouts and I've been trying to get more vegetables in my diet, so I tried roasting some Brussels sprouts... and my friends were right, they are tasty. I have them several times a week now.

From:

conuly

Any brassica improves when roasted.

From:

gatheringrivers

Uuuugh. My mother ALWAYS boiled the damn things. I never do.

Also, NEVER FREEZE a brassica either. Sweet christmas does that do such bad things!

I didn't realize they were trying to improve the flavors! So that's a good thing. :)

From:

conuly

So much harm has done to our palates by boiling things which never like it.

From:

cynthia1960

I have gotten converted to the religion of roasted Brussels sprouts recently by my wife and other friends. Never hated broccoli though, but Emma does. Wonder if a similar treatment will change her mind about that species.

Edited Date: 2019-12-15 06:08 pm (UTC)

From:

conuly

Roasted broccoli with a little garlic is to DIE for.

From:

darkoshi

I didn't know that about the Brussels sprouts. But I had read recently the same thing about eggplant - that they've had the bitterness bred out of them, so don't need to be salted and rinsed before cooking.

From:

silveradept

Have had them roasted and spiced and that's much better than what I remember as a child. Still don't necessarily care for them as vegetables, but I am glad that they're being cooked properly now.