Famously, a few years ago a number of Dopers admitted they thought pineapples came from trees. Funny how some little bits of knowledge passes us by. My wife and I were just talking about the new, tastier cultivars of brussel sprouts.
Do you have any idea at all what they look like on the hoof? Do you? Look at this thing! It looks like something a forest gnome might use as a baton.
Seriously, how did I not know that?
I’ve bought them this way at Trader Joe’s.
Belgium?
They are actually called “Brussels” sprouts, so I’ll guess Brussels, Belgium.
Seriously, I’ve never seen them in the wild. Cool picture.
I learned about that a long time ago. I did originally imagine rows of brussels sprouts growing like little cabbages.
You can find them sold at many stores like that. Brussels sprouts are the same species as kale, broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi, and collard greens; a versatile plant.
I’ve never seen that either. Bizarre!
I believe that they were originally hand-delivered to Adam and Eve by a minion from Hell as a curse to plague mankind for all eternity. But that’s just me.
Yeah, I knew. And learned it long enough ago I have no recollection of learning it or being surprised.
I also know it’s the same species as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and so on and so forth, Brassica oleracea.
You are mistaken, I think.
New varieties of these animals are now on-line. They are higher in sugar and much tastier. Give them a try next time you are going out for dinner.
Yes, and then God came to them in a dream and told them to split them, sprinkle with olive oil and Parmesan cheese and bake. Heavenly!
I once collectivized them as cabbages. Wife corrected me, saying they’re all mustards.
Burpee, IIRC, used to sell a breed with a stem so long and stout you could defend a bridge with it.
That’s human intervention for you. We’ve taken a single plant and created many variations. Cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts… Talk about your GMOs. I’m not sure there’s a plant that we use industrially for food that hasn’t been significantly altered over the years.
You know about bananas, right?
Lettuce? Without looking it up, I would have suspected it to be unrelated to the others. But like the crops you listed, modern lettuce is a long way from its ancient origins.
They grow lots of them on the coast north of Santa Cruz. Used to see them all the time when I lived in that area long ago.
My dad used to grow them, so yes, I know what they look like on the hoof. Cool example of selecting different strains of more-or-less the same plant to create lots of foods.
It’s pretty common for supermarkets around here to sell Brussels sprouts on the stalk. I wonder if that’s just a California thing. Or if it’s related to the fact that Brussels sprouts are grown around this area; in fact there’s a farm that grows them a couple miles from my house.
My husband would agree with you! I find them quite tasty when they are seasoned and roasted properly (ever so much better than the ones my roommate used to get from the cafeteria in college, which looked like boiled brains and smelled like old sweat socks. Erg).
Your wife corrected you wrongly then. They are all cabbages. They are also mustards, but so are a bunch of things that aren’t Brassica oleracea.
There are a lot of brassica oleracea and lettuce is not a plant species, but I’m not finding anything called lettuce that is also a brassica oleracea.
