I don’t know too much about different cauliflower varieties, but I do know that I love it. And I also know that, similar to globe artichokes and broccoli, the tighter the head the better it is.
RECIPES
RAW, PICKLED & ROASTED CAULIFLOWER, WITH OR WITHOUT CRISPY SNAILS
SALAD OF CAULIFLOWER, SMOKED SALMON & STRAWBERRY
Cauliflower is an annoying thing in the garden because it takes up a lot of room, like its ancestor, the cabbage. But I don’t know what England would be without cauliflower—it is a national vegetable. We just love it. So many things that are made from it come to mind. National dishes like piccalilli, for example. Now I don’t know one household in the whole of the UK that wouldn’t have a jar of piccalilli in the fridge.
Cauliflower began its life as a subsidiary of the wild cabbage that was found growing uncultivated all around the ancient area of Asia Minor and from there it was traded as far as Turkey and Italy. By the sixteenth century it had found its way to France, where it became highly fashionable in the court of Louis XIV, and from there onto England.
There are about 100 different varieties of cauliflower, but the two I am most familiar with are the All Year Round, which is cream colored with large florets, and Snowball, which has much smaller, more tightly packed florets and is also much whiter. Then there are the baby caulis, which are so cute. They’re a proper cauli, only miniature, being about the size of a tennis ball. They’re great to use as a side to a roast or baked and served as individual cauliflower cheese. There are other colors of cauliflower available around the world, including orange, green and purple, which is quite common in Italy but harder to come by in the southern hemisphere—if it is overcooked the purple color will fade to green.
My Grandad Tom used to grow two crops of cauli per year—one planted at the end of summer to be ready for winter and the second crop planted in winter for harvest in late spring. He’d wrap the leaves tightly around the flower head and even used to place a wet sack over them to help bleach them and make them whiter but also to keep dirt off the head. Cauliflower is also a member of the Brassica genus, as are broccoli and cabbage, which means that it will be fairly slow growing. The plants also take up a lot of room in your garden bed, so you will need to take a little time to think of where to place them and what you can plant in and around them to really make the most of the space in your beds.
You can put all your Brassicas in a bed together if you like, seeing they are all such large plants, but be warned: they can cross-pollinate with one another. To avoid this you will need to leave a bit of distance between varieties. In the past I have grown rows of parsnips or parsley in between.
As I’ve mentioned with other Brassica family members (cabbage and Brussels sprouts in particular), poor old cauliflower has been on the receiving end of years of culinary abuse. I bet if you took a survey, one in ten people, be they kids or adults, would turn up their nose at lovely cauli and say, “Ugh, no, it stinks!. It has a farty smell just like Brussels sprouts.” I blame the bad cooking techniques of the past. If a kid is forced to eat limp overcooked veggies, how are they supposed to embrace them and enjoy them? They look, taste and smell disgusting. If kids have only ever had certain vegetables cooked poorly, how are they supposed to know how delightful they truly are? I guess that’s how cauliflower cheese came to be—we had to try and disguise the taste and smell of all these limp overcooked veg.
Think about it. It still needs to be a little al dente, like its cousin broccoli. Not raw, but still retaining the integrity of the florets. Just as you would with pasta, cook cauliflower in salted boiling water until tender. Drain thoroughly, then let it sit for a minute or so in the colander and steam itself quite dry. You don’t want to retain any of that cooking water on it because that is where the smell is. Add a knob of butter and some salt and pepper. Ooh, delicious. And that’s it. It is so easy to make a beautiful vegetable like cauliflower appealing. Just cook it well and treat it with some respect.
Another way to enjoy cauli, which you may not have ever tried before, is raw. It is my favorite vegetable to eat raw. There is also a recipe for cauliflower with smoked salmon, strawberry and basil (see recipe). Strawberry and cauliflower may appear to be strange bedfellows, but trust me, it is so tasty. And again it’s a raw style, which adds a lovely textural element to the dish. I do enjoy cauliflower every way—baked, boiled and pickled too—but raw cauli is just yum. One tip to keep in mind when enjoying it raw is to ensure you are cutting it very fine so it has a nice grit to it.
RAW, PICKLED & ROASTED CAULIFLOWER, WITH OR WITHOUT CRISPY SNAILS
SERVES 4 AS AN ENTRÉE
This salad certainly can be served without the snails for a lovely vegetarian option and you don’t have to pickle and bake the cauliflower but all three textures and flavors of the cauliflower truly give this salad a little edge. If you are feeling brave, add some anchovies too.
12–24 RAW SNAILS OUT OF THE SHELL (DEPENDING ON THE SIZE) (OPTIONAL)
1 BULB OF GARLIC, HALVED WIDTHWAYS
5 BLACK PEPPERCORNS
1 TABLESPOON FINE SEA SALT
2 SPRIGS ROSEMARY
PEEL AND JUICE OF 1 LEMON (PEEL REMOVED IN STRIPS AND WHITE PITH REMOVED)
3 TABLESPOONS OLIVE OIL
3½ TABLESPOONS BUTTER, DICED
1 GARLIC CLOVE, EXTRA, THINLY SLICED
1 TABLESPOON SALTED BABY CAPERS, RINSED
2 TABLESPOONS ITALIAN PARSLEY LEAVES, FINELY CHOPPED
1 LARGE HEAD CAULIFLOWER
3 TABLESPOONS OLIVE OIL
¾ CUP WHITE VINEGAR
1 TABLESPOON WHITE SUGAR
5 AMARETTI BISCUITS (1½ OUNCES), ROUGHLY CHOPPED
2 CILANTRO STALKS, ROOTS ONLY, WASHED AND FINELY CHOPPED
5 SORREL LEAVES, SHREDDED
1 LARGE SHALLOT, FINELY CHOPPED
½ POMEGRANATE, SEEDS REMOVED (USE ONLY IF IN SEASON)
4 TABLESPOONS HOUSE VINAIGRETTE (SEE RECIPE)
SEA SALT AND FRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER
4 TABLESPOONS SOFT, FRESH GOAT CHEESE OR FROMAGE BLANC
For the crispy snails, place the snails, garlic bulb halves, peppercorns, salt, rosemary and lemon peel into an 8-cup capacity saucepan and add enough water to cover the ingredients by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave in the liquid until cooled, then remove the snails with a slotted spoon and pat dry on paper towels. Discard the poaching liquid and solids.
For the cauliflower, preheat the oven to 400°F. Remove the florets from the head of cauliflower and reserve the stalk. Chop half of the cauliflower florets into pinky-fingernail-sized pieces and place in a roasting tray with the olive oil and roast for 15–20 minutes, shaking the tray occasionally until the cauliflower is light golden. Take out of the oven and place in a large bowl.
Place the vinegar, sugar and ½ cup of water in a saucepan, bring to a boil, then take off the heat. Finely chop the reserved stalk and chop half of the remaining cauliflower florets into baby pea-sized pieces and add both to the pickling liquid. Set aside until ready to serve.
Finely chop the remaining cauliflower florets and add to the roasted cauliflower.
To serve, add the amaretti biscuit, cilantro root, sorrel, shallot and half of the pomegranate seeds to the bowl of cauliflower and mix in.
Drain the pickled cauliflower and add to the bowl along with the house vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper and toss to combine. Arrange on plates, spoon over the goat cheese and scatter over the remaining pomegranate seeds.
To finish the crispy snails, heat a large skillet over high heat, add the olive oil and snails and pan fry for 4–6 minutes or until crispy. Add the butter and turn down the heat to low. Add the sliced garlic, capers and parsley and continue cooking until the butter has turned to a light brown color. Add the lemon juice, then take off the heat. Place the snails over the cauliflower salad and spoon over a little of the cooking juices.
MAKES 4 CUPS
This is my basic dressing for many salads. Once made, store in empty washed out wine bottles, topped with a cork and it will keep for a few months.
2 CUPS EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
1 ½ CUPS SUNFLOWER OIL
⅓ CUP CHARDONNAY VINEGAR
⅓ CUP TARRAGON VINEGAR
10 TURNS OF WHITE PEPPER FROM A MILL
1 PINCH OF SALT
3 GARLIC CLOVES, LIGHTLY CRUSHED
4 SPRIGS TARRAGON
Whisk everything together and pour into bottles. Make sure you give it a good shake before using.
FILLS 8 STANDARD PRESERVING JARS
‘Piccalilli, it’s luminous. Never eat anything luminous.’ English comedian Peter Kay’s description of this classic English pickle always makes me cry with laughter. I have many fond memories as a young ’un eating ham and piccalilli sandwiches.
9 OUNCES COOKING SALT
1 LARGE HEAD CAULIFLOWER FLORETS
4 LARGE ZUCCHINI, CHOPPED INTO PIECES THE SIZE OF THE END OF YOUR THUMB
2 LARGE TURNIPS, CHOPPED INTO THUMB-SIZED PIECES
3 WHITE ONIONS, HALVED AND SLICED
½ CUP ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
1¾ TABLESPOONS GROUND TURMERIC
1 CUP WHITE SUGAR
5 CUPS APPLE CIDER VINEGAR
Bring 8½ cups of water and the salt to the boil in a 16-cup capacity saucepan, then allow to cool. Once cool, add all the vegetables and leave to pickle for 12 hours or overnight.
The next day, bring to a boil and boil gently for 15 minutes. Drain, then add the vegetables back to the pot.
Place the flour, turmeric and sugar in a large mixing bowl and whisk in 1 cup of the vinegar to make a paste. Whisk until there are no lumps, then add the remaining vinegar. Add to the vegetables and cook over high heat for 15 minutes, stirring every minute or so. Take off the heat and let stand until cooled to room temperature.
Meanwhile, sterilize eight Standard preserving jars with lids, Transfer the piccalilli mix into the jars and store in your cupboard for at least 3 weeks or longer before using. Unopened jars will keep for a good year or two. Store opened jars in the fridge for up to 3 months.
SALAD OF CAULIFLOWER, SMOKED SALMON & STRAWBERRY
SERVES 4
It is important to get the balance right in this dish. The freshly cracked pepper brings out the flavor of the strawberries so you really need to taste it—add pepper as if you were an old man peppering his soup. It may seem like an odd pairing but the strawberry flavor blends subtly with the smoked salmon and cauliflower. The lemon juice adds acid, the cauliflower adds an earthy flavor while the sour cream gives a lovely mouthfeel. This is delicious on its own, great as a side for simple baked fish, or as a shared entrée. But it’s also brilliant as a canapé to get the tastebuds gurgling with a nice glass of Champagne. How could you resist? Please give me a glass now.
2 SMALL HEADS CAULIFLOWER
3½ OUNCES SMOKED SALMON, DICED
5 LARGE STRAWBERRIES, SHUCKED AND DICED
3 SHALLOTS, FINELY DICED
3 SORREL LEAVES, FINELY SHREDDED
SEA SALT AND FRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER
JUICE OF 2 SMALL LEMONS
3 TABLESPOONS HAZELNUT OIL (OR SUBSTITUTE EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL)
⅔ CUP SOUR CREAM
1 BUNCH BASIL SHOOTS, TRIMMED, OR 10 BASIL LEAVES, THINLY SLICED
With a sharp knife, carefully remove the florets from the cauliflower and shred them. Discard the stalk (or, because we hate waste, make a soup out of it). Place the florets in a large bowl and gently combine with the smoked salmon, strawberries, shallot and sorrel. Season with salt and a good grind of pepper to bring out the strawberries.
Just before serving, add the lemon juice and oil. Place in a serving dish, place 1 teaspoonful dollops of the sour cream around the top and scatter over the basil shoots.
