As a side dish for 4 people: Ingredients: 500 g Brussels sprouts, as small florets as possible, clean and cook in a little water, with a one piece of butter, a little lemon juice, salt and pepper just cook.
Per person, peel two medium, firm boiling potatoes, cut into small cubes, wash again and also cook in salted water just cook. Now heat the drained Brussels sprouts together with the steamed potato cubes in a pot with a shot of cream; season to taste (also with lemon juice!), grate nutmeg over it and serve. With duck or pheasant, for example.
Aparte cabbage florets, not even 250 years old
."Brussel Sprouts" the English call it, "choux de Bruxelles" the French "cavoletti de Bruxelles " it is called in Italy, old German cookbooks speak of "Brussels cabbage".
The names leave no doubt that Belgians were the first to turn their attention to the vegetable imported by Roman legionaries at the end of the 18th century, breeding the dainty cabbages into our most delicate winter vegetable. So good, in fact, that even Chinese palates took a liking to them. Thus, Brussels sprouts (like broccoli) are one of the few vegetables that Chinese cuisine felt compelled to adopt from the West. A privilege that was justly not granted to the closely related but ordinary kale.
In cultivation, the king of cabbages is unproblematic. Sown in June/July, the young plants are set out at 40-50 cm distance, as adult Brussels sprouts grow up to a metre high. In some years, whitefly and aphids attack the plants, but farmer Ernst Berger manages the pests well with a mixture of soft soap and methylated spirit. Berger fertilizes with manure from his own pigs and chickens, which usually allows the Brussels sprouts to thrive without further intervention. Too much mineral fertilizer, however, is harmful: the florets puff up, become flabby and soft. But they must be small and firm, connoisseurs pay attention to this as well as to their freshness: If the cut is already yellow, it is better to leave them lying.
From autumn is harvested, throughout the winter months, and from the bottom up. This is because the small florets at the top of the plant continue to grow until they shoot and produce flowers in the spring when it gets warmer.
Cauliflower can take frost, many times it is said that and should and even must. Because it tastes less tart as a result of the cold. Whoever puts the vegetable in the freezer with this intention should know that Brussels sprouts do not tolerate deep permafrost at all: the inside of the florets turns brownish, their taste changes to sweet. Customers don't like that at all, Ernst Berger knows from experience. I think this manipulation is completely unnecessary, because it is precisely its tart note that makes up the characteristic, delicate taste of Brussels sprouts.
Most of all, it depends on the preparation. Sometimes in fine restaurants, they go to the trouble of preparing the individual leaves of the sprouts. It involves some fiddling, but the unfamiliar, delicate taste sensation is worth the effort. On the internet I found a nice recipe "Bosenkohl mit Eßkastanien". However, since Ernst Berger, in addition to eggs, sausage from the meat of their own pigs, also offers good potatoes, a Brussels sprout potato ragout is obvious. The vegetable is easy and quick to make, can be prepared and has so far tasted good to everyone. Duck, pheasant or partridge it accompanies excellently, even helps roast goose to a certain elegance.
Farm Ernst and Heike Berger
Antoniterstr. 6
63486 Bruchköbel (near Hanau)
Phone: 06185 - 7464
Fax: 06185 - 7464
Sale ex farm by appointment; Fridays market in Bruchköbel, Saturdays: farmers market Frankfurt, Konstablerwache
from Waldemar Thomas