romanesco broccoli was something i have seen before but i have never eaten it. i cooked some the other day and i ended up researching it.
it’s an edible flower, a version of the cauliflower. i love its vivid chartreuse colour and the self-similar patterns of the natural fractals of its shape. each bud is made of alike smaller buds and together they form a logarithmic spiral. this is cool mathematics and it is widely found in nature although the shape is usually not as striking as this one!
wiki says that: “in computer graphics, its pattern has been modeled as a recursive helical arrangement of cones” and “the number of spirals on the head of romanesco broccoli is a fibonacci number“.
pretty cool, huh? it has the golden number so its symmetry is beautiful to our eyes. try it raw or use one of the thousands of recipes out there.
for extra brownie points: i’m pretty sure the shape will get your kids eating it! enjoy!
photo credits: google search
10 comments
Rango says:
Feb 15, 2012
Does it taste the same as the common broccoli?
Or the taste is equal to the visual impact?
As a colleague of mine said: we eat with our eye, mouth and nose.
I give it a 10 for the visual impact.
little-aesthete says:
Feb 15, 2012
the taste is quite similar to cauliflower. another name for this vegetable is actually the romanesco cauliflower. and i read online that people usually have a hard time classifying it :)
Romanesco | Dgourmac's Blog says:
Oct 29, 2012
[…] Romanesco is in the broccoli family, and as you see above, is a visually-stunning vegetable. Unfortunately, tonight I was so focused tonight on cooking and eating that I took no photographs, so I’ll have to use words. […]
Escarole Salad with Roasted Broccoli, Pomegranate Seeds and Avocado | Four Cooking Together says:
Nov 7, 2012
[…] cousins such as frisée or endive. Peppery arugula would be lovely as well. Cauliflower or Romanesco would be a nice addition if you don’t have broccoli on […]
Mystery Vegetable | Life, After… says:
Nov 28, 2012
[…] https://littleaesthete.com/2012/02/08/romanesco-broccoli-the-fascinating-vegetable/ […]
explodyfull says:
Nov 29, 2012
So can you treat it just like cauliflower when preparing it?
little-aesthete says:
Nov 29, 2012
absolutely! but you can check for yourself when u buy it: it tastes a lot like cauliflower :)
Jorell Dye says:
Feb 26, 2014
God is brilliant! :D
little aesthete says:
Feb 26, 2014
if you say nature, we have a deal! :)
Ascension: Fractals and the Liturgical Year | Prayer Book Catholic says:
May 30, 2014
[…] (image from https://littleaesthete.com/romanesco-broccoli-the-fascinating-vegetable/) […]