I know about browning and the Maillard reaction. This is not about that.
There seems to be a certain class of vegetable, the cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, bok choi, etc.), that taste especially good cooked until a little burnt. They contain sulphur and burned sulphur is nasty stuff, so why does a char would so well with these veggies?
Perhaps the heat breaks down some of sulfur compounds?
Maybe it does have to do with the Maillard reaction; and it’s that the sweetness of the Maillard reaction makes more difference becuase it balances out the cruciferous vegetables’ natural bitterness, causing more flavor complexity.
A couple months ago I got a simple brussel sprouts appetizer at a middle-of-the-road restaurant (one of a chain called The Rusty Bucket). The sprouts were cut in half and the flat side was browned to a crust in an iron pan or similar. They were delicious. They were drizzled with an aioli sauce, but the char was the star. I want to figure out how to replicate those sprouts I got.
IMHO it’s because cooking them that way involves a dry heat. Steaming or boiling such vegetables makes them soggy and seams to bring out the worst in them. In addition, whenever I’ve prepared such vegetables by roasting, I use some kind of oil, usually olive oil, and the cooked oil also adds additional flavor. Mostly, though, I think it’s the removal of water that would otherwise make them soggy.
This applies to cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. I do question the bok choy. Are leafy greens good prepared in this manner? I’ve only had it as the leafy green base in a salad. I do prefer it to kale and lettuce, but would have never thought to actually cook it anymore than I would cook kale or lettuce.
ETA: And don’t get me started on spinach. That’s the devil’s weed 
.
I’ve never found Brussels sprouts to be bitter, but agree that they’re really good when browned to a light crisp in the oven (adding a little olive oil to the pan along with basil and garlic doesn’t hurt either).
Maybe there’s a generalized positive taste bud response to char-generated compounds, including the ones found in barbecued meat “burnt ends”.
Grilled romaine lettuce is a thing. I’ve had it a time or two. Good, not great.
I also had Brussels sprouts at a restaurant that I thought were really good, and have tried to replicate the flavor. They were halved and grilled with butter, as best as I could tell, and just slightly charred.
I tried grilling sprouts myself, and had a problem with getting them a bit too charred on the outside before they were done on the inside. I have also broiled them and cooked them in a skillet. They were always good, but my best results were after I precooked them in the microwave to soften them up a bit before grilling them.
But is chard good when crucified?
Same goes for asparagus. I don’t care for it steamed, but oil it and throw it under the broiler and I’m a go.
Raw baby spinach leaves are good in a salad.
Cooked spinach is disgusting. But if you add some salt, the taste morphs into “generic green vegetable with salt”, and it becomes edible.
LOL. Yes, chard is wonderful when roasted.
are browning or the malliard reaction why fruits like pineapple or watermelon taste better when cooked on a grill?
There are at least three different kinds of chemical reactions that all get lumped together as “browning”. Sugars caramelize, proteins have the Malliard reaction, and fats do something else. With fruits, it’s probably mostly caramelization, though with very juicy fruits like pineapple and watermelon, there’s probably a non-negligible effect just from drying them and thus concentrating the sugar.
My wife and I REALLY like boiled sprouts, and steamed broccoli. Eat them VERY often. Baked/grilled are tasty as well, but not worth the minimal extra effort in our opinion. I never understood why folk claim boiled/steamed veggies lack something.
Boiled vegetables can lose good stuff (both flavor and nutrition) to the water (which is of course not an issue if you’re making soup, but is an issue if you’re discarding the water). Boiling also makes it easy to overcook, which no vegetable benefits from.
Steamed, though, is fine for most veggies.
Brussels sprouts, in particular, are enjoying a bit of a renaissance in the US after some enterprising Dutch scientists bred a much less bitter variety. All of a sudden, they’ve become very popular over the last decade.
Make something taste better, see it explode in popularity. Go figure/humans are weird/etc.
Steamed brussels sprouts (and other vegetables) are fine, especially if spices are added during the steaming process. Oven browning seems to add an extra flavor dimension.
I figure that a lot of people that turn their noses up at brussels sprouts only know them from the overcooked, pale, mushy steam table version, which indeed is blech.
Huh. I did not know that. And here I thought it was either a faulty memory, my mom perhaps not doing them well, or changing tastes that made such a difference between today’s Brussels sprouts and my childhood memories.
Whereas the Brussels sprouts I remember from my childhood tasted just as good as current ones.
Blech and bitter. Though steamed they’re not a favorite of mine but I have enjoyed them roasted with pancetta and a balsamic glaze.