Cauliflower - Cabbage With Education

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

"Training is everything. Peach was once a bitter almond. Cauliflower is nothing but a cabbage with a university degree." This is as much a famous thought of Mark Twain as it is misquoted.

Most people take it out of context, mentioning only the second part, which describes cauliflower, and are under the impression that Mark Twain is ironically "biting" on the authority of the cabbage vegetable. On the contrary. He praises the virtues of college education through his association with it. The writer wanted to express the idea that growth and the path traveled in hard-working and constant learning are rewarded, as from a bitter beginning-nut gradually grows the sweet and charming fruit of the peach and as from the unattractive, nestled in green leaves Cauliflower appears white vegetables with different branches of roses and an interesting shape that is not found in other cabbage plants.

Cauliflower was once the most expensive, festively cooked and "spectacular" vegetable when served on a Victorian table. It was perceived almost as it is today, but even more so - it was an integral part of the daily cooking of the wealthy.

With the Latin name Brassica cauliflora, cauliflower is an annual herbaceous plant of the genus Cabbage of the cruciferous family and represents a significant challenge in terms of its complexity in cultivation. In Victorian times, it required a lot of agricultural skills and work to be able to be planted and grown properly, and white was not yet hybridly developed. The leaves of the vegetable had to be tied carefully to envelop its growing roses below the surface, so that they were protected from loss of moisture and remained white. Its production during the year required a slightly more complex system of cultivation, as it began before the onset of autumn and continued with the need to grow it in glass boxes for seedlings and in greenhouses in winter.

Described by Arab botanists and well known to the Romans, cauliflower originated in Cyprus, where it was originally planted and grown. It was cultivated and imported to France from Italy in the middle of the 16th century. Cabbage is often likened, like a walnut, to a rose-shaped brain. It is hard to imagine that it was once the object of universal culinary adoration in the court of Louis XIV, being served in dishes rich in ingredients by exquisite masters of culinary art.

In Brittany, cauliflower provided a good livelihood for the locals. Menon, an 18th-century food and lifestyle writer, says that vegetables are great for clarifying the taste as a side dish to beef with a heavy sauce, and are also compatible with ham and cream. It was used to prepare a special stew with mushrooms and goose liver. Such decadent tempting and meat dishes with Cauliflower they can probably be found on the plate of any modern gourmet.

Cauliflower in the United States, it was first cultivated in Margaritville in 1891, when William F. Van Benshotin planted a handful of seeds on his farm, which rises on a mountain peak and overlooks the foot of the village. Vegetable production is booming in the region, and when the enterprising cauliflower lover's first crop was ready for sale in the New York market, his neighbors followed suit and planted several plots of vegetables. While some farms in the area continue to produce Cauliflower and in the 1990s, the boom in Catskill Mountain industry gained momentum from the early 1900s to 1940s.

Not only does growing it support the families of the area financially, but it also provides work for outsiders, hired workers, railway workers, truck drivers, crate manufacturers and even agents in commission houses. Cabbage is so important to the local economy that the Ketskill News (which was and still is one of the most important sources of information for mountain dwellers) brings out bad weather, outbreaks of pests and diseases in the harvest, yield forecasts and cauliflower prices as news on its front page. Increased competition in agribusiness operations - mainly in Long Island and California - has led to a decline in vegetable production since 1950. For a long time, however, the people of Margaritville did not forget the cauliflower as a symbol of the area and remembered its almost industrial significance.

Mark Twain's specially educated vegetables also have impressive nutritional value. It is very low in saturated fat and cholesterol. It is a good source of protein, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, magnesium and phosphorus. With cauliflower we can get a lot of dietary fiber, which helps good digestion and fast intestinal peristalsis. Vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin B6, folic acid, pantothenic acid, potassium and manganese also make up the nutritional profile of vegetables. Most of the calories in it come from natural sugars, which give it a specific pleasant taste. In a 100 gram pile of raw chopped roses from Cauliflower contains the following amount of nutrients: 30 mg. sodium; 3 g of dietary fiber; 2 grams of sugar and only 25 calories. 100 g of vegetables cover our need for daily intake of vitamin C with 77%, iron with 2%, calcium with 2%.

"Cauliflower cheese" is the name by which it is sometimes called a dish of cauliflower and cheese. It is traditionally British and is famous all over the world. It can be eaten as a main dish for lunch or dinner, or as a side dish, often accompanied by roast meats such as beef or pork.

Necessary products: 1 medium Cauliflower (about 450 g), 60 g butter, 60 g flour, 1 tsp. mustard powder (optional), a pinch of salt, 460 ml. fresh milk, 100 g of cheddar cheese - grated, as well as additional to sprinkle the dish, freshly ground black pepper.

Method of preparation: Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Remove the green leaves from the cauliflower and make a deep cross cut at the bottom of the stem, then put the whole vegetables in a saucepan of boiling water for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Cauliflower should not be completely cooked, but only slightly softened.

Mix the butter and flour in a large saucepan and stir over low heat until the butter melts and the flour is homogenized with it. Add salt and mustard powder and continue to stir for about two minutes. Increase the heat a little to medium degrees and add the milk at once. Stir vigorously until a smooth sauce forms. Continue to homogenize the sauce to thicken and polish (about 5 minutes). If it turns out very thick, add a little more milk. The sauce should be thick, but still spread well. Add the grated cheese and stir until melted. Remove the sauce from the heat.

Carefully separate the cauliflower roses, making sure they do not break from their trunk. It must be preserved. Place the flowers in a greased pan - large enough to hold the whole mixture. Pour the cheese sauce on top and make sure to cover all the small cauliflower roses. Sprinkle with more grated cheese and grind a little black pepper. The familiar and favorite dish of every Briton is baked in a hot oven until the sauce starts to bubble and a golden brown crust appears on top, about 30 minutes.