New Food Wednesday - April 11, 2012

Vegetable or fractal geometry?

Find out after the jump!

Well it's a food blog, so if you guessed vegetable, you're right!

On my sojourn to Texas, I passed through a small farmers market at the old Imperial Sugar factory in Sugar Land, TX.  As I was passing through the produce area, this unique find caught my eye.

Broccoli Romanesco from Sugar Land Texas

You know by now, that I had to purchase a head of this impressive, edible flower.

First documented in 16th century Italy, broccoli may be a misnomer for this close cousin to cauliflower.  But whatever the name, it is much more visually striking than either broccoli or cauliflower.  It's bright green with an iridescent purplish-hue near the tips of the cones, but it's most unusual trait is the obvious expression of a Fibonnaci/ golden spiral.

For most, understanding fractal geometry and the Fibonacci sequence probably aren't on your "must do list," I know it's not very high on mine, but this is one instance where a quick trip to Wikipedia.org will offer some insightful factoids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal)

Broccoli Romanesco

Unfortunately, I found it to be very bitter when eaten raw, which could have been a byproduct of purchasing an out-of-season veggie.  When lightly steam with butter, salt, pepper, and squeeze of lemon juice it was delicious.  

Eat good food.  Drink good beer.  And above all, stay classy!