This amazing vegetable is a Romanesco cauliflower which we got from our CSA. I had never seen one before. The chartreuse color and the strange fractal quality of the flowerets is just beautiful. Wikipedia says that the branched meristems make up a logarithmic spiral. Also that the number of spirals on each head is a Fibonacci number. It is one of the mathematical wonders of the vegetable world.
We are having it for dinner, boiled whole, with cheese sauce and ham and boiled potatoes. I tried and tried to find a recipe that left it whole but most of them break it up like an ordinary cauliflower. That's tragic, in my opinion.
And how did it taste? (Andrew asks)...
ReplyDeleteJust like cauliflower!
ReplyDeleteI've got a couple recipes that at least let you slice it and roast it, "like steaks" (see The Kitchn, I think).
ReplyDeleteI've seen Romanescu in photos before, but never in person. Very cool.
And it would be delicious with a cheese sauce, of course.