In Season Vegetable for September 2010 – Fresh Cauliflower.
Cauliflower, from the Latin word meaning ‘cabbage flower’, is a member of the brassicas family. It has been grown for more than two thousand years. It is native to the Mediterranean & has been part of European diets for about five hundred years. Miniature cauliflowers, ideal for a single serve, are sometimes available. Broccoflower is a hybrid mix of cauliflower & broccoli. The florets are bright green (lighter than broccoli) & packed into a round head like cauliflower. The flavour tends to be sweeter than cauliflower & broccoli. Supply is limited. Checking the colour & freshness of the leaves that are close to the head (known as curds) is a good way of helping choose the best cauliflower. Look for white heads that are clean & compact. The curds should be firm with no parts breaking away. Refrigerate in plastic bags. Cauliflower is an excellent source of vitamin C & supplies vitamin K & folate. It is also a source of fibre, B-group vitamins, as well as small amounts of other vitamins & minerals. Cauliflower is a member of the brassicas family of vegetables & hence contains compounds which are thought to inhibit the development of some cancers.
Cut into florets or leave whole. Cauliflower is best cooked for a short time until tender but still slightly crisp. Avoid overcooking as the taste will be inferior & the heads will disintegrate. To lightly cook cauliflower florets for use in salads or crudités, simply place in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, drain & cool under cold running water. Cauliflower tastes delicious raw or lightly steamed, boiled or stir-fried. Use cauliflower like broccoli – in fact they’re good eaten together. Cauliflower is great with a cheese or white sauce, added raw or lightly cooked to salads, made into pickles, added to soups, casseroles & stir-fries. It’s also good as a crudités, raw or blanched, served with a dip or dipping sauce.
Some sources say cauliflowers originated in China and were introduced into Spain in the 12th century. Others say they were an east Mediterranean crop, exported to Italy as recently as the late 15th century. Originally, the heads were no larger than tennis balls, but plants with huge heads gradually became popular. Like other vegetables in the brassicas family with the same cancer-inhibiting sulphurous compounds, cauliflower has an important role in fighting cancer, especially hormonal, bowel and lung cancers.
The fibre in cauliflower makes it a heart-protective vegetable because it helps lower blood cholesterol levels, and the folic acid helps neutralize excessive levels of heart attack-causing homocysteine. Cauliflower is a good choice for women before or during early pregnancy because folic acid can help prevent birth defects, and its vitamin C content is good for strengthening the immune system.
In Season Fruit for September 2010 – Fresh Grapes.
We eat a lot of grapes in this country & most of our supplies are imported. New Zealand grows some spectacular ones; however these are only available in the late summer months. From now till January we enjoy fresh table grapes from the San Joaquin Valley in California, with the remainder of the year from Australia & Chile combined as these countries both lie in the Southern hemisphere. But it is now that we have delicious seedless grapes from USA arriving at our shores. The most popular green variety by far is the Thompson seedless, which is an early starter too & in red we start with Flame seedless, which pack a real crunchy punch, & later the Red Globe. Although the Red Globe has seeds they store well & pretty much last the whole season through. There are a number of black varieties available too with the popular ones being the Exotic & Ribier, both large round berries & also with seeds. Grapes neither ripen nor sweeten after harvest so select them carefully & use them as soon as possible. Look for bunches which are plump, firm & wrinkle-free with the fruit firmly attached to green, pliable stems. Grapes which fall readily from a bunch when shaken are past their best.
The grape is the most cultivated fruit in the world & 90 per cent of the plants are varieties of one species, an old-world vine believed to have originated about the Caspian Sea. Depictions in Egyptian tombs show grapes were under cultivation there as early as 4000BC. The fruit was especially popular with the Romans who imported them from Greece, Sicily & Spain by the first century AD & with whom may well have originated the popular orgy-demand, ‘Peel me a grape, honey’. Grape culture was established in France long before he Romans marched in & that was fitting for a country which was to create from the fruit the noblest of wines. The Rev Samuel Marsden did New Zealanders a stupendously good turn by planting our first grapes. Now, nearly all New Zealand outdoor grapes are grown for wine production, an art in which we are now so creative that we have become a thorn in the side of the French at international wine shows. Example – one half-cup of Thompson seedless has 66 calories; low in sodium; contains useful amounts of potassium & vitamins A & C. Refrigeration for long term – 10 days to two weeks. About four days at room temperature (cool area). Best eaten within two days of purchase. An ideal compliment for the kids lunchboxes as well.
Red (black) grapes and red wine have long been recognized as providing some protection against heart disease and red or purple grape juice is believed to offer the same health benefits. This is attributed to the health-boosting compounds in grapes, particularly the flavonoids quercitin and resveratrol. Resveratrol, found in red grape skins, has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and is believed to help prevent cancer, to improve blood flow to the brain, thus reducing the risk of stroke, and to make the blood less likely to clot. Green (white) grapes contain little or no resveratrol, but the high quantity of other antioxidants in both types of grape is believed to lower cholesterol levels, reduce the risk of cancer and boost brain power. Raisins are grapes that have been dehydrated and are an equally rich source of antioxidants.
Glenn Forsyth.