Cauliflowers

The cold winter mornings may be terrible for getting out of bed, but they are wonderful for brassicas like Cauliflowers. The frosty temperatures help in turning cauli’s carbohydrates into sugars, making them particularly sweet and tender. It also helps preserve the freshness of the leaves, and the purity of the florets.

Cauliflowers are a gravely underrated vegetable. They are effectively a blank-slate – able to soak up flavour from however you prepare it. Try tossing in olive oil and spices, then roasting at a high temperature until nicely charred and crispy. Heaven on a cold night.

We also see alternate varieties of cauliflower during the winter, including coloured caulis like “Cheddar” (yellow) and “Cape Broccoli” (purple). But our personal favourite is the “Romesco”, the Roman Cauliflower. This can be mistaken for “Broccoflower”, which is a green hybrid of Broccoli and Cauliflower – but Romesco (which is also green) is notable for its geometric-patterned florets, and nice firm texture. It is wonderful chopped and sautéed with garlic, chilli and olive oil, then served with a parmesan and anchovy pangrattato. A classic Roman way of preparing this wonderful vegetable