Thank you, genius Etruscans
I just can’t say enough about beets… delicious, colorful, full of healthy and juicy things… okay enough about beets.
Did you ever grow celery? I did a couple times forty years ago, but I decided parsley would suffice at my level of culinary implementation. If enlightenment used herbal crayons to color its days, some of the colors would taste like parsley. It’s the vitamins, fiber and minerals and such we appreciate.
So I asked parsley to tell it’s story, and it suggested I should instead consider something without a true wild ancestor: broccoli.
Did you ever notice Shakespeare never mentioned broccoli? “What green florescence dost yon garden boast?” never happened. Broccoli did not make its way to England until the mid-1700s when Flemish sculptor Peter Scheemakers brought some from the mainland. He was visiting because he had been commissioned to create a bust of Shakespeare for Westminster Abbey which was a big deal, but not as big as broccoli – a recent survey revealed broccoli to be the favorite vegetable in the UK.
Broccoli’s history began about 2600 years ago in the middle of the Italian peninsula when genius Etruscan farmers domesticated a native wild cabbage relative to develop larger edible flowers. Folks just like us (geniuses) followed their instincts and now Americans eat an average of 6.6 pounds of broccoli annually. It’s been grown commercially in the U.S. only about 100 years, but consumption has skyrocketed ninefold in the past 20 years.
The part we usually eat is a large green flower called the crown, though there are purple varieties also. Romanesco is a cauliflower-broccoli cross that produces large crowns of chartreuse logarithmic spirals. Hardly ever do we describe vegetables as logarithmic. Or chartreuse. I call the fractal shapes sworls.
Sprouting broccoli varieties produce many smaller edible florets as side shoots. Yod fah is an Asian sprouting variety with a sweet edible stem the size of a healthy asparagus spear. All parts are edible, and it matures in less than two months.
Not everyone is a fan of broccoli or its cousins, kale and collards. President George W. Bush wanted nothing to do with broccoli, but President Barack Obama declared it his favorite vegetable. Briefly steaming florets is an easy way to prepare them. You can be a fancypants and anoint the florets with olive oil and roast them at 425° for about half a Tom Petty CD. Chopped up pieces add color and nutrition to your famous casseroles, and you can eat it raw. Use the florets to dip hummus.
I also peel the stalks, slice up the inner part and add it to my famous casseroles, or eat it raw. Tasty.
We have embraced the vegetable legacy of our Etruscan forbearers because modern varieties are fairly easy to grow and especially nutritious. Broccoli is a potent source of Vitamin K1which is vital for blood clotting and bone health, plus vitamin C for antioxidants. You also get iron, folate, fiber and green pieces between your teeth. I wonder if Etruscans invented floss?
Folks who count things noted Americans imported almost 200 million pounds of fresh broccoli from Mexico in just the first quarter of 2022. Because of recent events, it makes sense to grow your own. The plants prefer cooler weather, can handle partial shade and, depending on variety, need two to three months to mature. An ambitious gardener can plant a crop in early spring and another toward the end of August. Well-prepared soil and regular watering (not regular overwatering) are important.
Cabbage loopers will love your broccoli plants more than you do, but an occasional dose of Bacillus thuriengensis when plants are young might discourage them. Also, maggots and slugs and whiteflies – oh my! Insecticidal soaps, neem oil and 24-hour surveillance will help, as would magic Etruscan chants except their language went extinct. Instead, plant odiferous herbs and flowers nearby and sing your own song.