Cauliflower For The Regional And Seasonal Challenge

Regional And Seasonal Challenge To Use Cauliflower

This week’s Regional and Seasonal Challenge To Use Cauliflower is one I am looking forward to. It is in season right now and should be available at any local super market or fresh produce market. Please leave me a comment to tell me you have done the challenge which closes at midnight on 12th of September.

When the volcano disaster struck Europe it made me realize just how much we rely on air transport working properly. Not only because we were going overseas at that time, but because the English people were complaining about food they import not getting to them! And then, we had a Transnet strike, and the fresh fruit destined for the UK got stuck in Cape Town. Why on earth do the British eat New Zealand lamb? Why are we so hung up on asparagus all year round, we import it from Peru? Why do we not eat regional and seasonal ingredients? In my quest for organic produce I keep in mind that local is better than organic! That is my first ‘rule’. The second is to try and by only South African, and then organic if possible. If we support our local farmers, the country can prosper.

According to Wikipedia:

Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species Brassica oleracea, in the family Brassicaceae. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head (the white curd) of aborted floral meristems is eaten, while the stalk and surrounding thick, green leaves are used in vegetable broth or discarded. Cauliflower is nutritious, and may be eaten cooked, raw or pickled.

Its name is from Latincaulis (cabbage) and flower, an acknowledgment of its unusual place among a family of food plants which normally produces only leafy greens for eating. Brassica oleracea also includes cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale, broccoli and collard greens, though they are of different cultivar groups.

For such a highly modified plant, cauliflower has a long history. François Pierre La Varenne employed chouxfleurs in Le cuisinier françois. They had been introduced to France from Genoa in the 16th century, and are featured in Olivier de Serres‘ Théâtre de l’agriculture (1600), as cauli-fiori “as the Italians call it, which are still rather rare in France; they hold an honorable place in the garden because of their delicacy,” but they did not commonly appear on grand tables until the time of Louis XIV.

PS – my friend Cindy is making every Tuesday night in her home Tandy Tuesday – this has put a warm feeling inside of me! Thanks Cindy 🙂

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