Cauliflower

Cauliflower
Cauliflower, cultivar unknown
Species	Brassica oleracea
Cultivar group	Botrytis cultivar group
Origin	Northeast Mediterranean
Cultivar group members	Many; see text.

Cauliflower plants growing in a nursery in New Jersey.

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) is eaten. The cauliflower head is composed of a white inflorescence meristem. Cauliflower heads resemble those in broccoli, which differs in having flower buds. Brassica oleracea also includes broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, and kale, though they are of different cultivar groups.

History

The oldest record of cauliflower dates back to the 6th century B.C.; Pliny wrote about it in the 2nd century. In the 12th century, three varieties were described in Spain as introductions from Syria, where it had doubtless been grown for more than a thousand years. It is found in the writings of the Arab botanists Ibn al-'Awwam and Ibn al-Baitar, in the 12th and 13th centuries when its origins were said to be Cyprus.^[1][2][3]

For such a highly modified plant, cauliflower has a long history. François Pierre La Varenne employed chouxfleurs in Le cuisinier françois.^[4] They were 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",^[5] but they did not commonly appear on grand tables until the time of Louis XIV.^[6]

Etymology

The name comes from Latin caulis (cabbage) and flower.^[7]

Classification and identification

Major groups

There are four major groups of cauliflower.^[8]

Italian

Diverse in appearance, and biennial and annual in type, this group includes white, Romanesco, various brown, green, purple, and yellow cultivars. This type is the ancestral form from which the others were derived.

Northern European annuals

Used in Europe and North America for summer and fall harvest, it was developed in Germany in the 18th century, and includes the old cultivars Erfurt and Snowball.

Northwest European biennial

Used in Europe for winter and early spring harvest, this was developed in France in the 19th century, and includes the old cultivars Angers and Roscoff.

Asian

A tropical cauliflower used in China and India, it was developed in India during the 19th century from the now-abandoned Cornish type,^[9] and includes old varieties Early Benaras and Early Patna.

Varieties

There are hundreds of historic and current commercial varieties used around the world. A comprehensive list of about 80 North American varieties is maintained at North Carolina State University.^[10]

Colors

White

White cauliflower is the most common color of cauliflower.

Orange

Orange cauliflower (B. oleracea L. var. botrytis) contains 25% more vitamin A than white varieties.^[11] This trait came from a natural mutant found in a cauliflower field in Canada.^[12] Cultivars include 'Cheddar' and 'Orange Bouquet'.

Green

Green cauliflower, of the B. oleracea botrytis group, is sometimes called broccoflower. It is available in the normal curd shape and a with a spiky curd called Romanesco broccoli. Both have been commercially available in the U.S. and Europe since the early 1990s. Green-curded varieties include 'Alverda', 'Green Goddess' and 'Vorda'. Romanesco varieties include 'Minaret' and 'Veronica'.

Purple

The purple color in this cauliflower is caused by the presence of the antioxidant group anthocyanins, which can also be found in red cabbage and red wine.^[13] Varieties include 'Graffiti' and 'Purple Cape'.

In Great Britain and southern Italy, a broccoli with tiny flower buds is sold as a vegetable under the name "purple cauliflower"; it is not the same as standard cauliflower with a purple curd.

• 

  White cauliflower

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  Orange cauliflower

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  Purple cauliflower

Nutrition

Cauliflower is low in fat, low in carbohydrates and high in dietary fiber, folate, water, and vitamin C, possessing a high nutritional density.^[14]

Cauliflower contains several phytochemicals, common in the cabbage family, that may be beneficial to human health, as well as carotenoids^[15]

Boiling reduces the levels of these compounds, with losses of 20–30% after five minutes, 40–50% after ten minutes, and 75% after thirty minutes.^[16] However, other preparation methods, such as steaming, microwaving, and stir frying, have no significant effect on the compounds.^[16]

Cooking

Aloo gobi, an Indian dish prepared with cauliflower and potato

Cauliflower can be roasted, boiled, fried, steamed, or eaten raw. When cooking, the outer leaves and thick stalks are removed, leaving only the florets. The leaves are also edible, but are most often discarded.^[17] The florets should be broken into similar-sized pieces so they are cooked evenly. After eight minutes of steaming, or five minutes of boiling, the florets should be soft, but not mushy (depending on size). Stirring while cooking can break the florets into smaller, uneven pieces.

Low carbohydrate dieters can use cauliflower as a reasonable substitute for potatoes or rice; while they can produce a similar texture, or mouth feel, they lack the starch of the originals. Like certain legumes (including chickpeas), it can be turned into a flour from which such foods as pizza or biscuits are made.^[18][19]

Fractal dimension

Fractal pattern of Romanesco broccoli, a variant form of cauliflower

Cauliflower has been noticed by mathematicians for its distinct fractal dimension,^[20][21] predicted to be about 2.8.^[22][23]

References

Further reading

• Sharma, S.R, Singh, P.K., Chable, V. Tripathi, S.K. (2004). "A review of hybrid cauliflower development". Journal of New Seeds 6 (2–3): 151. doi:10.1300/J153v06n02_08. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cauliflower.

• PROTAbase on Brassica oleracea (cauliflower and broccoli)
• Orange Cauliflower Development
• Cauliflower nutritional information