Cauliflower Vegetable

Cauliflower is a variety (Botrytis Group) of Brassica oleracea in the family Brassicaceae. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head (the white curd) is eaten while the stalk and surrounding thick, green leaves are discarded. Cauliflower is extremely nutritious, and may be eaten cooked, raw or pickled. Its name is a variation of cole flower or kale flower (cole and kale being variations of the same word), an acknowledgement of its unusual place among a family of food plants which normally produces only leafy greens for eating. It is of the very same species as cabbage, mustard greens, and brussels sprouts, for example.

The preferred garden soil for cauliflower is well drained, is moist, and has significant organic matter with a pH of 6 to 7. Cauliflower is typically started indoors six to eight weeks prior to setting out in the garden and is typically ready for harvest two months after transplanting. As with all brassicas, seeds germinate best with a soil temperature of 25±1 °C (77±2 °F). The vegetable requires a cool, moist climate - if temperatures go too high, the plants will not produce flower heads, if too low a temperature is reached, the plants might button, creating small heads. It is cold tolerant, but will not survive hard frosts. Of all the brassicas, cauliflowers have the largest number of growth requirements, and the ability to successfully grow cauliflower in a home garden is often thought to be the hallmark of well-managed soil and a good gardener.

Traditional varieties include 'Snowball', 'Hybrid White', 'Super Snowball', 'Snow Crown', 'Mayflower', Candid Charm', 'Mormon', 'Agrahani', 'poushi', 'maghi', 'Snow White', 'Snow Grace'. Self-blanching varieties are 'Self Blanche', 'Early Tuscan', 'Late Tuscan' and heirloom varieties include 'All the Year Round', 'Early Pearl', 'Early Snowball', 'Igloo', 'Viloetta Italia' and 'Walcheren Winter'. Cauliflower and broccoli are the same species and have very similar structures, though cauliflower replaces the green flower buds with densely packed white flower buds. A wide cross was performed between these two species resulting in a new variety called a brocciflower. It has very pale green heads densely packed like cauliflower and a flavor similar to broccoli but should not be confounded with a broccoflower which is simply a variant cultivar. A yellow cultivar of cauliflower is also known and produced comercially.

The World's Healthiest Foods, Essential Guide for the Healthiest Way of Eating

Cauliflower is low in fat, high in dietary fiber, folate, water and vitamin C, possessing a very high nutritional density. As a member of the brassica family, cauliflower shares with broccoli and cabbage several phytochemicals which are beneficial to human health, including sulforaphane, an anti-cancer compound released when cauliflower is chopped or chewed.

Cauliflower can be 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.[5] These should be broken into similar-sized pieces so the florets 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. Cauliflower is often served with a cheese sauce, as in the dish cauliflower cheese, or with a meat gravy. Low carb dieters can use cauliflower as a reasonable substitute for potatoes because while they can produce a similar texture, or mouth feel they lack the starch of potatoes; cauliflower is actually used to produce a potato substitute known as fauxtato.



Paralumun New Age Village