Brussels Sprouts

Britons eat more Choux de Bruxelles than anyone else in Europe. It is a traditional accompaniment with Christmas turkey in Britain. But, ask some over there, how will Christmas dinner be different after Brexit? No Brussels. Groan. Botanically, they are the edible buds of a member of the cabbage family, Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera. While their forerunners were likely cultivated in Ancient Rome, that mine of veggie information Rebecca Rupp (1987), notes that Mark Antony ate ballata gemmifera ('diamond-makers' since they were said to enhance mental powers), unsuccessfully, before meeting August Caesar at the Battle of Actium, but the Roman references may have been describing a very small form of heading cabbage.

Scientists instead believe them to have been bred from wild cabbages found in Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan but first emerged on the menu in 5^th century northern Europe. Jane Grigson, an English food writer, says the first reference found in 1213 City of Brussels market regulations. Despite long been cultivated near that city, it was the French, ever enthusiastic on matters gastronomic, who coined the name Choux de Bruxelles and hence in English, Brussels Sprouts--or perhaps, following Brexit, the insular British will change the name to "little cabbages." Whatever the name, by 1812 adventurous Thomas Jefferson was growing them at his famed Monticello estate. There are some indications though they may have arrived before that in Louisiana with French colonists. By the middle of the century, Brussels Sprouts were popular in both France and Britain--and apparently in China to improve digestion. Nevertheless, a Heinz survey of 2008 claimed them to be most hated vegetable in America. Little wonder as the California-cultivated crops are not exposed to the frost so necessary to improve their flavour. Like parsnips, leeks and kale, Brussels Sprouts require a touch of cold to reveal their flavour. In fact, there is now something called 'Flowersprout' from Tozerseeds of--where else but Britain--that is a hybrid of kale and an unfortunate Brussels Sprout. None of which seems to have deterred Linuus Urbanec of Sweden, who gobbled down 31 in one minute on 26 November 2008. He must be a healthy chap, since an 89g serving contains four times more vitamin C than an orange. There are also high levels of vitamin A and folic acid. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge reportedly ate them on their honeymoon in Seychelles as because the latter supposedly aids fertility.