BRASSICA OLERACEA VARIETY ITALICAAlthough broccoli was introduced to America in the late 18th century, it wasn’t until the early 20th that Italian immigrants to the West Coast started growing the plant we recognize as broccoli and popularized it. In recent years, its popularity has soared because it not only tastes good but people realize how good it is for you.
THE ORGANIC FACTOR
The best broccoli I ever tasted was grown by my two-year-old daughter in our organic vegetable garden. She put the seed in the soft, crumbly, early spring soil, and when the plant was a foot and a half tall, set her small plastic Mickey Mouse underneath its large leaves. The plant responded with the most resplendent head of broccoli I’ve ever seen, and man-oh-man was it sweet and tender.
That’s because, like most crucifers (including cabbages, turnips, rutabagas, kohlrabi, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and radishes), broccoli is a heavy feeder: It takes lots of nutrients from the soil, especially nitrogen compounds but also major and minor elements like calcium, chromium, magnesium, and iron. It uses these elements to build flavor compounds in its tissues, among other beneficial substances. Evidence continues to mount that organic food, grown in soil that’s well supplied with all the major and minor elements it needs, is able to build more of the compounds that make it taste good.
Conventional agriculture, by contrast, depletes soil of whatever varying nutrients happen to be present in a particular plot of land, and adds back only soluble forms of three major nutrients—nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus—yielding generic, similar-tasting crops bearing no mark of where they were grown.
Conventional farming also gives broccoli some nasty extras. The California Department of Pesti-cide Regulation lists five pages of agricultural chemicals and other substances used on broccoli. I’ll take my broccoli from the organic farmer, thank you.
NUTRITION
Broccoli is one of the most nutritious vegetables we can eat. Perhaps kale and parsley are more nutritious ounce for ounce, but how much kale and parsley will people actually eat? Yet we can—and many of us do—eat copious quantities of broccoli. Among its rich stores of nutritive elements are a plethora of cancer-fighting compounds. Many fruits and vegetables contain substances that seem to block cancer cells before they turn deadly, but broccoli tops the list with 30 different agents. There’s more vitamin C in 1⁄2 cup of broccoli than a glass of orange juice (58 milligrams, two-thirds of our recommended daily allowance). Plus, it has good supplies of folic acid, B6, riboflavin, iron, carotenoids, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, chromium (which protects against diabetes), fiber, anticancer indoles, antioxidants like quercitin, and glutathione.
TYPES
While the green varieties are standard, there are purple varieties. They tend to turn green during cooking and generally have a milder flavor than the green types. They add color to a plate of crudités.
Another variant, romanesco or broccoletti, is probably closer to cauliflower than broccoli. It has a gorgeous-looking lime green head with many spiral lumps in geometric patterns.
Another type, broccoli raab, is named after the Italian word for turnip, rapa, and in fact the Italians call broccoli raab cime di rapa, (top or height of the turnip). This is a strongly flavored, even bitter, plant with a flowering stem and large leaves. It’s probably more closely related to a turnip than actual broccoli, but the name of broccoli raab has stuck. It’s often used wilted and sautéed on pizza, in pastas, and such. If you find it too strong for your taste, blanch it before using it in other dishes. Keep a close eye on it as it cooks, because it overcooks easily.
In the spring, you may find broccolini, also called by its cultivar name Asparation, in stores.
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