Ciaran’s Peculier [sic] Blog

I feel it my duty to stand up for broccoli. This vegetable has earned a really bad name, which is utterly undeserved. What most people call broccoli, and what’s sold in supermarkets under the name, is, strictly speaking, not proper broccoli but a variant. It is broccoli calabrese, or simply calabrese, the type of broccoli traditionally grown in Calabria, in southern Italy – the home of the dreaded Ndrangheta who make the Cosa Nostra look like pussycats. This form of broccoli with its uniform dark-green compacted heads is usually served up as an over-boiled, tasteless sludge that revolts everyone, especially children. When I am told in n a restaurant that the vegetables include “broccoli” I know what’s coming, and so it remains uneaten. (It is fine if it is broken into small florets and stir-fired.) The food industry love it because it is cheap and easy to grow, as well as easy to pack and distribute.

 In addition to the calabrese variety there is another variety called romamesco whose heads are a lighter green in colour. And let’s not get into the area of Chinese broccoli.

For me the authentic type of broccoli is known as Purple Sprouting. Certainly it tastes far better than the anaemic calabrese. It also takes a bit longer to grow. Consequently it is far less likely to turn up in supermarkets, or for that matter, in restaurants. It is not some rare exotic that is difficult to grow. Most gardeners will agree with me about its taste, but unless you grow it yourself you are unlikely to know this. Rosie is a devotee like myself of the authentic purple sprouting. A few months ago bought some plants that were labelled as Purple Sprouting Broccoli. You can imagine her dismay and disgust when they grew into calabrese plants that are now producing nice green, firm yet tasteless heads.