# What is a rabe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562 "2007-08-06T01:50:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/1 "2007-08-06T01:50:47Z")
As in broccoli rabe. I think it’s pronounced “rob”. Interesting that [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) and wikipedia were of no help. I’m sure one of you guys will have an excellent answer. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/2 "2007-08-06T01:53:38Z")
> **[broccoli rabe](https://www.thefreedictionary.com/broccoli+rabe)** > > Definition, Synonyms, Translations of broccoli rabe by The Free Dictionary Noun 1. broccoli rabe - plant grown for its pungent edible leafy shoots 2. broccoli rabe - slightly bitter dark green leaves and clustered flower buds ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/3 "2007-08-06T01:54:45Z")
It’s a leafy vegetable, used in Italian cooking. Here’s the wikipedia article about it: > **[Rapini](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapini)** > > Rapini or broccoli rabe (/rɑːb/) is a green cruciferous vegetable, with the leaves, buds, and stems all being edible; the buds somewhat resemble broccoli, but do not form a large head. Rapini is known for its bitter taste, and is particularly associated with Mediterranean cuisine. > Native to Europe, the plant is a member of the tribe Brassiceae of the Brassicaceae (mustard family). Rapini is classified scientifically as Brassica rapa var. ruvo, or Brassica rapa subsp. sylvestris var. esculenta. ... ---
**Author:** ![neorxnawange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f4b2a3/32.png) [@neorxnawange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neorxnawange)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/4 "2007-08-06T02:10:43Z")
The common confusion is that broccoli rabe is some sort of preparation of the vegetable broccoli when in fact broccoli rabe is a completely different vegetable. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/5 "2007-08-06T02:26:14Z")
[QUOTE=neorxnawange] The common confusion is that broccoli rabe is some sort of preparation of the vegetable broccoli when in fact broccoli rabe is a completely different vegetable. [/QUOTE] That’s exactly what I was confused about. I first heard about it on some Food Network show where some guy was making Philly cheesesteaks and he put “a broccoli rabe” on one of the sandwiches. It looked like a broccoli cheese preparation, and he referred to it as one would a preparation. Then I heard it again used in the same context. I think both incidents were on Bobby Flay’s Throwdown. Take that ignorance! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/6 "2007-08-06T08:02:53Z")
The botanical family _Brassica_ is a confusing mess, especially when approaching it from the culinary direction - for example, some things colloquially called ‘cabbage’ are technically the same as some things called ‘mustard’ and other things called ‘turnip’ - all that’s happened is that various cultivars have been developed to emphasise or exaggerate different attributes of the same species. Broccoli (the tree-shaped green kind) is _Brassica oleracea_ - so is ordinary cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohl rabi and kale. Broccoli rabe is _Brassica rapa_ - as are Chinese cabbages and turnips (but not swede/rutabaga, which is a variety of _Brassica napus_. It’s made even more confusing by the fact that these species will quite readily interbreed to produce fertile offspring. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/7 "2007-08-06T08:33:27Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] …Broccoli (the tree-shaped green kind) is _Brassica oleracea_ - so is ordinary cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohl rabi and kale… [/QUOTE] Let me get this straight: cabbage = cabbage brussel sprouts = Mini-cabbage broccoli = bunches of nano-cabbage kohl rabi = giant mini-cabbage cauliflower = bunches of fucked-up white nano-cabbage kale = giant leaves of cabbage mustard = proto-cabbage Broccoli rabe/Rapini = Something completely different ☹😕 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/8 "2007-08-06T08:42:54Z")
Pretty much (except maybe the mustard). But not _completely different_, no. Different enough to warrant being called a different species, but only just - as I said, it’s a confusing mess and rather than being nice species consisting of distinct and uniform members, they’re huge diverse somewhat-overlapping splodges of widely-variable members. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/9 "2007-08-06T12:16:13Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] cauliflower = bunches of fucked-up white nano-cabbage [/QUOTE] If I ever get a TV cooking show, I am so using this! ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/10 "2007-08-06T16:52:44Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] Let me get this straight: cabbage = cabbage brussel sprouts = Mini-cabbage broccoli = bunches of nano-cabbage kohl rabi = giant mini-cabbage cauliflower = bunches of fucked-up white nano-cabbage kale = giant leaves of cabbage mustard = proto-cabbage Broccoli rabe/Rapini = Something completely different ☹😕 [/QUOTE] Well to be more accurate: broccoli = juicy green cabbage flowers and stems cauliflower= juicy white cabbage flowers and stems kohl rabi = mutant giant cabbage stem ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/11 "2007-08-07T18:05:41Z")
Some rabbis are women, and some of those are gorgeous. When a rabbi is a babe, she’s a rabe. Simple as that, though I suppose some guys call them RILFs. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/12 "2007-08-07T18:09:08Z")
And if a gorgeous rabbi became President, they’d call her Rabe-re-ham Lincoln. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/13 "2007-08-07T20:46:07Z")
> [@](#): > > That’s exactly what I was confused about. I first heard about it on some Food Network show where some guy was making Philly cheesesteaks and he put “a broccoli rabe” on one of the sandwiches. I don’t know much about botany, but I can correct an error here. I don’t know what dish the guy on the food show was making. It may even have been a tasty dish. But whatever it was, it absolutely wasn’t a Philly cheesesteak. The only vegetables on or in a Philly cheesesteak are mushrooms and onions (both optional), and maybe, _maybe_ peppers. Next you’ll be telling me that he sliced the bun in two. _shudders_ ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/14 "2007-08-07T20:54:50Z")
Nice OP. I was actually going to post this very thing a couple of days ago. Because I had some at a restaurant. It looks like broccoli with tiny little florets and a long stringy stem. It was delicious, but quite bitter. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/15 "2007-08-07T21:06:26Z")
So could you say the cabbage/broccoli family is kind of analogous to the chihuahua and mastiff both belonging to the dog family? Fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/16 "2007-08-07T22:53:00Z")
So far, no one (except AskNott :)) has explained the word “rabe”. If anyone can answer that, here’s a related question: Is broccoli rabe a type of broccoli, or it is a type of rabe? In other words, which word is modifying which? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/17 "2007-08-07T22:57:30Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] The only vegetables on or in a Philly cheesesteak are mushrooms and onions (both optional), and maybe, _maybe_ peppers. [/QUOTE] Mushrooms are vegetables? ---
**Author:** ![neorxnawange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f4b2a3/32.png) [@neorxnawange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neorxnawange)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/18 "2007-08-07T23:44:36Z")
[QUOTE=Keeve] So far, no one (except AskNott :)) has explained the word “rabe”. If anyone can answer that, here’s a related question: Is broccoli rabe a type of broccoli, or it is a type of rabe? In other words, which word is modifying which? [/QUOTE] Broccoli rabe is formed from the Italian _broccoli di rapa_, which translates as _flowering tops of the turnip_. So says my unabridged Merriam Webster. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/19 "2007-08-08T00:10:47Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] Mushrooms are vegetables? [/QUOTE] Well, they’re not animals or minerals, but I think I know what you mean; they’re taxonomically distinct from plants, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562/20 "2007-08-08T01:50:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Mushrooms are vegetables? Culinarily, yes. Taxonomically, they’re as different from vegetables as we are, but by that definition, the bun is a vegetable too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rabe/414562.md?page=2)