[Sca-cooks] broccoli and cauliflower and sprouts

[Decker, Terry D.]

> I'm confused. All those 16th century Flemish kitchen/veggie
> girl paintings
> with cauliflower's recognizably in the painting - these are
> plants that look
> like our modern ones, but are of a different genus or something?
>
> Rosine

No, not even a different species.  What you are seeing is a 16th Century
representation of B. oleracea var. botrytis.  The only difference between it
and the cauliflower at your supermarket is the particular strain it
represents.

> >  I've also come
> > across a drawing of brussels sprouts purporting to be from
> 1587, but I
> > haven't isolated the source.
>
> Aren't they (or something like them) mentioned in
> the Menagier?
>
> Translation says:
> "And when the head of this cabbage, which is in the
> middle, is removed, pull and replant the cabbage
> stalk in new ground, and there will come out large
> spreading leaves: and a cabbage holds great place,
> and these are called Roman cabbages, and eaten in
> winter; and from the stalks, if they are replanted,
> come little cabbages called sprouts which are eaten
> with raw herbs and vinegar; and if you have plenty,
> they should be well cleaned, washed in hot water,
> and put to cook whole with a little water: and then
> when they are cooked, add salt and oil, and stir it up
> thick without water, and put olive oil on in Lent."
>

I had forgotten that one.  It does make the point about B. oleracea that all
of the varietals are only different physical manifestations of the same
plant.

Bear