Romanesco cabbage: useful properties of Romanesco cabbage

Romanesco cabbage (or Roman cabbage) impresses vegetable lovers with its unique appearance: in fact, this cabbage is characterized by self-similarity, or fractality, expressed in the repeatedly repeated form of a pyramidal herringbone, spiraling to the top.

Romanesco cabbage: useful properties of Romanesco cabbage

Romanesco's branching fabrics, which resemble a logorithmic spiral, are literally fascinating. And each Romanesco inflorescence consists of a series of smaller buds arranged in another logarithmic spiral. It is even known that the number of Romanesco spirals corresponds to the numerical series of the famous mathematician Fibonacci, who lived at the turn of the 12th-3rd centuries, i.e. 300 years before the Italians began to grow this cabbage.

However, how and where exactly Romanesco came from is not exactly known. Many sources indicate that it appeared as a result of the experiments of Italian breeders who tried to cross broccoli with cauliflower. Other sources say the opposite: romanesco is by no means a hybrid, but a variety of cauliflower. Nevertheless, there is still no genetic justification for Romanesco's unusual appearance.

From the point of view of taste, we must admit that romanesco is a truly delicious vegetable: it is much more tender than broccoli or cauliflower, and its slightly nutty flesh is much crisper and less watery than that of the above-mentioned species. 

Currently, romanesco is cultivated in Italy and Spain-countries where there is a lot of sun, which allows you to produce a large amount of chlorophyll, thanks to which the cabbage is colored in a bright light green color. 

In fact, romanesco cabbage can be prepared in the same way as cauliflower. Before heat treatment, the stalk and the outer leaves are removed (however, the leaves can be boiled separately and eaten, excluding the petioles - they remain firm and do not have any taste). Then the cabbage is cut into large pieces and placed in boiling salted water. Romanesco is cooked for only a few minutes - as a result, it should become soft, but at the same time a little crunchy. However, the most useful romanesco, being steamed. In boiled form (steamed or in water), it is recommended to use it in salads, along with other boiled vegetables. At the same time, it goes well with garlic, onions, mustard and various types of pepper.