Romanesco broccoli or Roman Cauliflower is an
edibleEating is the process of ingesting food to provide for an animal's nutritional needs, particularly for energy and growth. All animals must eat organisms in order to survive: carnivores eat other animals, herbivores eat plants, and omnivores consume a mixture of both; see feeding.-Eating...
flower of the species
Brassica oleraceaBrassica oleracea, or Wild Mustard, is a species of Brassica native to coastal southern and western Europe, where its tolerance of salt and lime and its intolerance of competition from other plants typically restrict its natural occurrence to limestone sea cliffs.Wild B...
and a variant form of
cauliflowerCauliflower 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 is eaten while the stalk and surrounding thick, green leaves are used in vegetable broth or discarded...
.
Romanesco broccoli was first documented in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
(as
broccolo romanesco) in the sixteenth century. It is sometimes called
broccoflowerBroccoflower refers to either of two edible plants of the species Brassica oleracea with light green heads. The edible portion is the immature flower head of the plant....
, but that name is also applied to green-curded cauliflower
cultivarA cultivar is a cultivated plant that has been selected and given a unique name because of desired characteristics; it is usually distinct from similar plants and when propagated it retains those characteristics....
s. It is also known as coral broccoli. It is rich in
vitamin CVitamin C or L-ascorbic acid is an essential nutrient for humans, in which it functions as a vitamin. Ascorbate is required for a range of essential metabolic reactions in all animals and plants...
,
fiberDietary fiber , sometimes called roughage, is the indigestible portion of plant foods that pushes food through the digestive system, absorbing water and easing defecation...
, and carotenoids.
The vegetable resembles a cauliflower, but is of a light green color and the
inflorescenceAn inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
(the bud) has an approximate self-similar character, with the branched
meristemA meristem is the tissue in all plants consisting of undifferentiated cells and found in zones of the plant where growth can take place....
s making a
logarithmic spiralA logarithmic spiral, equiangular spiral or growth spiral is a special kind of spiral curve which often appears in nature. The logarithmic spiral was first described by Descartes and later extensively investigated by Jakob Bernoulli, who called it Spira mirabilis, "the marvelous...
.
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Romanesco broccoli or Roman Cauliflower is an
edibleEating is the process of ingesting food to provide for an animal's nutritional needs, particularly for energy and growth. All animals must eat organisms in order to survive: carnivores eat other animals, herbivores eat plants, and omnivores consume a mixture of both; see feeding.-Eating...
flower of the species
Brassica oleraceaBrassica oleracea, or Wild Mustard, is a species of Brassica native to coastal southern and western Europe, where its tolerance of salt and lime and its intolerance of competition from other plants typically restrict its natural occurrence to limestone sea cliffs.Wild B...
and a variant form of
cauliflowerCauliflower 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 is eaten while the stalk and surrounding thick, green leaves are used in vegetable broth or discarded...
.
Romanesco broccoli was first documented in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
(as
broccolo romanesco) in the sixteenth century. It is sometimes called
broccoflowerBroccoflower refers to either of two edible plants of the species Brassica oleracea with light green heads. The edible portion is the immature flower head of the plant....
, but that name is also applied to green-curded cauliflower
cultivarA cultivar is a cultivated plant that has been selected and given a unique name because of desired characteristics; it is usually distinct from similar plants and when propagated it retains those characteristics....
s. It is also known as coral broccoli. It is rich in
vitamin CVitamin C or L-ascorbic acid is an essential nutrient for humans, in which it functions as a vitamin. Ascorbate is required for a range of essential metabolic reactions in all animals and plants...
,
fiberDietary fiber , sometimes called roughage, is the indigestible portion of plant foods that pushes food through the digestive system, absorbing water and easing defecation...
, and carotenoids.
The vegetable resembles a cauliflower, but is of a light green color and the
inflorescenceAn inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
(the bud) has an approximate self-similar character, with the branched
meristemA meristem is the tissue in all plants consisting of undifferentiated cells and found in zones of the plant where growth can take place....
s making a
logarithmic spiralA logarithmic spiral, equiangular spiral or growth spiral is a special kind of spiral curve which often appears in nature. The logarithmic spiral was first described by Descartes and later extensively investigated by Jakob Bernoulli, who called it Spira mirabilis, "the marvelous...
. The broccoli's shape could be described as
fractalA fractal is "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is a reduced-size copy of the whole," a property called self-similarity...
; each bud is composed of a series of smaller buds, all arranged in yet another logarithmic spiral.
Cooking
Although in Italy there are a number of recipes dedicated to Romanesco broccoli, in the rest of the world it is usually prepared like normal broccoli. Like normal broccoli, overcooking Romanesco will result in a texture some people find unpleasant. The texture is more tender than cauliflower, making it suited to raw use as
cruditésCrudités are traditional French appetizers comprising sliced or whole raw vegetables which are dipped in a vinaigrette or another dipping sauce. Crudités often include celery sticks, carrot sticks, bell pepper strips, broccoli, cauliflower, and asparagus spears.The French word "crudité" originates...
.
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