Cauliflower

Brassica oleracea var. botrytis

vegetable

A white head made of swollen, fleshy flower buds, from a variety of common cabbage; Italy also grows purple ones, such as the Violetto di Sicilia, and the sulphur-yellow romanesco. It provides vitamin C and glucoraphanin.

Origin

Near East

Season (United States)

September to June · grows in your region

Preparation

The leaves and the core are edible: the grated core is mild and crunchy, the leaves roast like chips. Short steaming keeps its glucosinolates; long boiling carries them off. Most of its goitrogens go with cooking, even a short one. High in purines: to rotate rather than stack, if the ground is sensitive.

Molecules

Glucoraphanin → sulforaphane · Vitamin C · CholineIn small amounts, not counted Spermidine · Folates (B9) · Vitamin B6 · Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid)What slows things down Goitrogens · Purines

Did you know?

It has been called the cabbage of Cyprus and of Syria; it probably descends from the wild cabbage of Greece.