Romanesco Broccoli - A True Objet d'Art

If you think veggies are boring, then you've never seen the likes of Romanesco broccoli.  And if this true marvel of nature doesn't make you wonder what the hell the first George Bush was talking about when he proclaimed that he didn't like broccoli, then you're an incurable Lachanophobe.

See the way each little peak spirals around?  And then notice how each little bunch then spirals around the whole head?  This is called a fractal form, or a self-similar pattern.  There are lots of examples in nature of fractal forms, but I think the Romanesco broccoli is one of the coolest, because you can get right up close to it and admire it for as long as you want, and then you can eat it!

Romanesco broccoli is not really a true broccoli, it's more properly classified as a cauliflower, and a lot of people do know it as such.  I can tell by the way it grows that it's a cauliflower. The plant is much larger than a broccoli - about 3 feet in height when mature - and once the main head is cut, that's it.  You cannot rely on lateral growth for additional minor heads as the season goes on, which is a nice feature of regular broccoli.  However, this beauty is so interesting, with a nice nutty flavor, that it's worth it.

I mean, talk about a great segue at the dinner table.  You could steam this baby whole, present it to your perpetually bored lachanophobic teen-ager, and with any luck, get him to eat his veggies AND start a conversation about molecular nanotechnology.

Now go forth and multiply in a self-similar pattern.  Plant some Romanesco.  Pronto.