Cauliflower is king
IKNEW it. Speculating in May on what might be the next big vegetable — as in the noise around it and increased consumption rather than a roadside attraction — I put forward cauliflower.
I was quietly confident it would not be either subject of that week’s column, turnips and swedes. Confirmation for cauliflower came with the arrival in one week of two cookbooks devoted solely to the (mostly) white curds.
From Australia and Murdoch Books comes Cauliflower is King by Leanne Kitchen ($19.99), and from Israel and Hardie Grant is Cauliflower, by Oz Telem ($24.99).
Unlike kale and quinoa — which have come from nowhere to now being in everyone’s consciousness (if not on all plates) and the sole subjects of several cookbooks — cauliflower has not come from a standing start.
The ancient Romans were fond of cauli and it was all the rage in the court of King Louis XIV of France. Creme du Barry (cauliflower soup) is named for his mistress Madame du Barry.
Cauliflower’s time has come again. Leanne Kitchen says “big and boofy” cauliflower “is having something of ‘zeitgeist moment’ right now”.
Cyprus is reckoned to be where cauliflower first popped up, she says. Perhaps when Cyprus became a British colony in the 17th century it made its way to England, and from there to India, which has an extensive cauliflower cuisine.
What is new are the ways we are using the vegetable. “The most exciting culinary development in the history of cauliflower has occurred in recent years” writes Telem, when “the vast potential” of finely chopped or grated cauliflower was unlocked.
Such cauliflower “grains” can stand in for rice, couscous, bulgur or wheat. Telem’s enthusiasm for cauli grains is reflected in a number of recipes, including replacing couscous in a salad with leeks, peas and preserved lemon and a stir-fried “rice”.
Raw was my favourite way to eat cauliflower as a child and grains mostly are served raw. Kitchen has a terrific salad of cauliflower, (real) bulgur and pomegranate seeds (pictured above).
Cauliflower steaks are a thing now, and so are cauliflower pizza bases. Why on earth would you want a cauliflower pizza crust you ask? Because they contain no carbohydrates is the answer.
Telem says when he asked around about what people did with cauliflower, most knew only three or four ways to prepare it. He’s right. For me that would be a soup, a vegetable curry, but nearly always cauliflower cheese — often dolled up with corn kernels, bacon and parsley.
Well, no excuse now that I’m in possession of two books, each with 70 recipes for Kitchen’s king of vegetables, but Telem’s queen (Hebrew allocates gender to nouns and cauli is female).
Although the number of recipes is the same, Telem’s book is 233 pages to Kitchen’s 139 — because he includes many instruction pictures as well as the finished dish.
Both authors have raided kitchens all over the world for traditional recipes (but only Kitchen has a recipe for Antipodean piccalilli).
They both present a Palestinian one-pan dish called maqluba of cauliflower, eggplants and rice that is turned out upside down to serve. And they both have adaptations for classics such as paella and mac ‘n’ cheese.
Telem adds florets to a spanakopita; Kitchen slips cauli into a caponata. Both have recipes for tah-dah recipes of whole cauliflower. Giant cauliflower mafrum in Telem’s book spectacular. A minced beef mixture is stuffed into the curds of a whole cauli from top and underneath, and it is served with a tomato sauce.
It is one of only four meat recipes in the book. Another is inside-out stuffed cauliflower. A minced beef mix is wrapped around a floret so only the stalk protrudes.
I am not about to recommend either book over the other — sometimes you want your cauli risotto with taleggio, hazelnut and burnt butter a la Kitchen; at other times you might prefer Telem’s using cauliflower in the stock, as florets and pureed in a sauce with coconut cream.
Only Kitchen has recipe for cauliflower cheese as we know it. Telem’s version is cauliflower and cheese patties — not quite so comfy, but then it’s not a cauli cheese recipe I am in need of. Leanne Kitchen is the author of a clutch of cookbooks including The Real Food of China (Hardie Grant Books) and Turkey (Murdoch Books). Cauliflower is Oz Telem’s first book. He blogs at thekitchencoach.co.il