Loving the seasons: Purple Sprouting Broccoli

I love to cook what’s fresh, local, and in season. Most of the year that’s pretty easy to do. So easy in fact, I almost consider it cheating just a little. You don’t have to think much about what you’d like to make. Just go to a farmer’s market or open your food box and see what’s available. Whatever you happen to find, it will be delicious because it’s fresh and in season.

January through early March in the UK is known as the Little Hunger. It’s called that because there just isn’t much in season at all. It’s still too cold for above ground vegetables to be ready, and the root veggies are getting a little tired and sad. So we make do with potatoes, beets, parsnips and other strange roots. I have to think that some of them were first eaten simply because there was nothing else to eat. Who would look at celeriac and say mmmm…tasty…can’t wait to tuck into that! It’s actually pretty good, but not nice to look at, and as the one doing the cooking, you have to psych yourself up to serve it!



Last week the first signs of spring appeared in my veggie box in the form of purple sprouting broccoli. I had never seen nor heard of purple sprouting broccoli before moving here two years ago. I was intrigued, but dubious at first. Was this just another genetic mutation to make broccoli look pretty just to get people to pay a premium for it? It’s certainly nice to look at, but is it tasty?

The answer is yes! It is delicious! As it turns out, it’s the original version of broccoli, and the heads at the end of the long thin stalks are actually immature flowers. It’s also power packed with nutrients, as are most brightly coloured vegetables are. It has a slightly more delicate flavour than the green broccoli we’re used to, and lacks the bitterness that sometimes makes people want to smother their broccoli in cheesy gooey sauce.

I’ve browsed through some recipes online for preparing it in different ways, but it’s such a tasty veg, I prefer to leave it alone. Incidentally, there are very few recipes to be found apart from steaming and serving with a little lemon juice and butter.

I prefer to go even more natural with mine. I steam it until the stalks are bright green and crisp, and the purple heads are really shining. There is a global tendency to over-cook broccoli until it turns to mush. Purple sprouting broccoli is much more delicate than sturdy green broccoli, and it only takes a minute or two in the steamer basket until it’s ready. I serve with a tiny bit of sea salt.

Tonight, it will be a colourful accompaniment to pork tenderloin and a butternut squash mash. A meal that represents the changing of the seasons, embracing the best of the cold winter months, and the first fresh signs of springtime that remind us of what we have to look forward to in the coming months!