“Cauliflower is nothing but a cabbage with a college education.” – Mark Twain
The Cauliflower is a brassica just like Cabbage and Broccoli, you can find them in white, yellow, purple and even green with pointed florets, a variety widely known as Romesco.
Known by the Romans, this vegetable was introduced to France from Genoa, Italy, in the 16th century. However, it only became a delicacy commonly appearing at court banquets, during the kingdom of Louis XIV. It’s hard to imagine that such a common vegetable could have been served in very sophisticated, rich and elegant dishes made to impress the court and it’s foreign visitors. This is something that nowadays, we would never associate with the idea we have of Cauliflower.
Even if we disregard it’s potential for sophistication we do consider it a super food and take into account it’s immense benefits. A great source of vitamin C and manganese the Cauliflower provides us with two of the most conventional anti-oxidants, it also provides nutrients that can activate detoxification and having high contents of vitamin K it contributes to strengthen our capacity to prevent inflammation. It looks like maybe we should give this nourishing vegetable a little bit more credit.
Did you know? Cauliflower contains phytonutrients that release odorous sulfur compounds when heated. These odors become stronger with increased cooking time. If you want to minimize odor, cook the cauliflower for only a short time.
Picture source: Rampages.us