Everything blooming on our property right now, from the Texas Mountain Laurel to the verbena, seems to be a similar shade of violet. When I noticed that even my little baby head of cauliflower was taking on that hue, I began to wonder, "Could it be contagious?" I didn't remember buying a special "purple" variety of cauliflower, so what was going on? I decided to query the nets, and this is what I found: Some cauliflower, when exposed to very intense sun (of the sort we obviously have here in Texas) will begin to take on a purple tinge. It's the same pigment that you find in purple cabbage, and is not harmful when eaten, but can turn a rather unappetizing shade of grey when cooked in water. So, if you wish to keep your cauliflower white, all you need to do is take the three largest leaves and clothespin them together to shade the head. Neat, huh?
Hmmm. The more I look at it, though, the more I like the way the purple cauliflower blends with the purple alyssum on one side, and the ribs of the big purple cabbage leaves on the other. Yep, the clothespin's gotta go!
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2 comments:
It is such a lovely shade of purple. You could use it raw just so you could have that color. Maybe put it in a big bowl with leaf lettuce and pansies! Yum...and beautiful.
The info I read said it turned grey when cooked in water, but since we like to roast ours in the oven with a little olive oil and sea salt, I'm hoping that won't happen. It would make a pretty salad though, wouldn't it?
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