Broccoli
| Broccoli |
|---|
|
| Species |
| Brassica oleracea |
| Hybrid parentage |
| Cultivar group |
| Italica Group |
| Cultivar |
| Origin |
| possibly Ancient Rome |
| Cultivar Group members |
| Many; see text. |
Broccoli is a plant of the Cabbage family, Brassicaceae (formerly Cruciferae). It is classified as the Italica Cultivar Group of the species Brassica oleracea. Broccoli possesses abundant fleshy green flower heads arranged in a tree-like fashion on branches sprouting from a thick, edible stalk. The large mass of flower heads is surrounded by leaves. Broccoli most closely resembles its close relative cauliflower, but is green rather than white. Common varieties are Calabrese and purple sprouting broccoli.
History of broccoli
Roman references to a cabbage-family vegetable that may have been broccoli are less than perfectly clear: the Roman natural history writer, Pliny the Elder, wrote about a vegetable that fit the description of broccoli. Some vegetable scholars recognize broccoli in the cookbook of Apicius.
Broccoli was an Italian vegetable, as its name suggests, long before it was eaten elsewhere. It is first mentioned in France in 1560, but in 1724 broccoli was still so unfamiliar in England that Philip Miller's Gardener's Dictionary (1724 edition) referred to it as a stranger in England and explained it as "sprout colli-flower" or "Italian asparagus". In the American colonies, Thomas Jefferson was also an experimentative gardener with a wide circle of European correspondents, from whom he got packets of seeds for rare vegetables such as tomatoes. He noted the planting of broccoli at Monticello along with radishes, lettuce, and cauliflower on May 27, 1767. Nevertheless, broccoli remained an exotic in American gardens. In 1775, John Randolph, in A Treatise on Gardening by a Citizen of Virginia, felt he had to explain about broccoli: "The stems will eat like Asparagus, and the heads like Cauliflower."
Commercial cultivation of broccoli in the United States can be traced to the D'Arrigo brothers, Stephano and Andrea, immigrants from Messina, Italy, whose company made some tentative plantings in San Jose, California in 1922. A few crates were initially shipped to Boston, where there was a thriving Italian immigrant culture in the North End. The broccoli business boomed, with the D'Arrigo's brand name "Andy Boy" named after Stephano's two-year-old son, Andrew, and backed with advertisements on the radio.
A genetically engineered cross between broccoli and cauliflower, the brocciflower, was first cultivated in Europe around 1988. Its very pale green heads are densely packed like cauliflower but has the flavour of broccoli.
The word broccoli comes from the Latin brachium and Italian braccio meaning "arm."
Cultivation, preparation and nutritional value
Template:Nutritionalvalue Broccoli is a cool-weather crop that does poorly in hot summer weather. Other cultivar groups of Brassica oleracea include: cabbage (Capitata Group), cauliflower (Botrytis Group), kale and collard greens (Acephala Group), kohlrabi (Gongylodes Group), and Brussels sprouts (Gemmifera Group). Chinese broccoli (Alboglabra Group) is also a cultivar group of Brassica oleracea. It is usually boiled or steamed, but may be eaten raw and has become popular as a raw vegetable in hors-d'oeuvre trays. It is high in vitamin C and soluble fiber and contains the compound glucoraphanin, leading to an anticancer compound sulforaphane.
Broccoli in popular culture
- Broccoli is frequently referred to in popular culture as a vegetable that parents try to force their unwilling children to eat.
- In The Simpsons episode Treehouse of Horror XI, Homer is killed by eating broccoli. When examining the body, Dr. Hibbert said that broccoli was one of the deadliest plants, and it warned people with its bad taste.
- United States President George H. W. Bush was known to have an active disdain for broccoli, having actually said so in an offhand remark during his presidency.[1] In response, a powerful broccoli agriculture lobby sent several tons of it to the White House. This broccoli was promptly donated to the Capital Area Food Bank.[2]
- In the TV sitcom Seinfeld, Newman refers to broccoli as a "Vile weed!".
- Tom "Broccoli" Landers is the current world record holder for eating broccoli. Following the World Broccoli-Eating Contest in New Jersey, he offered this tip for getting it down: "Just swallow, don't bother to chew." Landers consumed 1 pound of the green vegetable in 92 seconds.
- In Michael Winterbottom's 2002 film 24 Hour Party People, a stoned Tony Wilson repeatedly claims that the vegetable was 'invented' by Cubby Broccoli.
- In 1928, when broccoli was still something of a novelty in the United States, a cartoon[3] appeared in the New Yorker magazine, drawn by Carl Rose with a caption by E.B. White. A mother and child are seated at the table, and the mother says "It's broccoli, dear." The child replies "I say it's spinach, and I say the hell with it."
- In Family Guy episode I Never Met the Dead Man, Stewie devises a plan to get out of eating the broccoli that he so despises: he intends to build a weather-altering machine that will freeze broccoli crops everywhere.
Gallery
Extreme close-up of broccoli florets.
Broccoli flowers.
Two broccoli heads.
Romanesco broccoli, showing fractal forms
Steamed broccoli
References and notes
- ↑ "What's Your Beef?". PBS (1998-01-20). Retrieved on 2006-08-05.
- ↑ "Chronology" (PDF). Capital Area Food Bank. Retrieved on 2006-08-05.
- ↑ Cartoon featuring broccoli
