THE EVOLUTION OF Cauliflower

For years cauliflower was dismissed as a bland side dish with little to offer in terms of taste or nutrition. In recent years, that idea has been flipped on its head, and today cauliflower is a celebrated superfood, popping up on menus and in cookbooks around the country. Let’s take a closer look at the transformation from forgotten vegetable to musthave ingredient.

Cauliflower first arrived in New Zealand from European settlers in the early 19th century. It began as a luxury vegetable grown mainly in the Auckland and Wellington regions, but by the 1920s, it became widely available, finding its way onto the plates of everyday Kiwis.

The vegetable belongs to the Brassica family which includes broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and kale. Celebrated for their health benefits, Brassicas are high in fibre, low in calories, and rich in nutrients. They also contain phytochemicals which reduce the risk of chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease. But that impressive nutrient profile is wasted if nobody wants to eat them! Cauliflower used to be something you had to choke down. The vegetable would often be steamed or boiled to within an inch of its life and, if you were lucky, smothered in a rich cheese sauce. Cauliflower was little more than a side dish served with roasts during winter; something to endure until the weather warmed up and it could be swapped out for a garden salad.

Luckily, as New Zealand’s culinary landscape becomes more diverse, our understanding of what to do with this humble vegetable has evolved. By looking overseas, Kiwis have discovered that cauliflower is a much more versatile vegetable than we thought. In India, it is a key ingredient in aloo gobi, while in Israel, it is often roasted and served with tahini sauce and pomegranate seeds. It can be used as an alternative to cabbage in a Korean kimchi, and often finds its way into French gratins.

Two things become clear when we study how cauliflower is treated abroad. First, the boiling needs to stop! Not only does this destroy the texture, but the excessive heat also damages many of the nutrients. Instead, cauliflower comes to life when roasted, fried, and pickled which not only tastes better, but is healthier, too. The other lesson is that it needs to be paired with flavourful ingredients like spices, herbs, garlic, chilli, and lemon zest. Being mild and absorbent means cauliflower can carry and complement bolder flavours for a well-balanced dish.

Recently, cauliflower has been noticed by health food advocates, becoming a popular low-carbohydrate substitute for rice, potato, and pasta. It’s not uncommon to see cauliflower rice, cauliflower macaroni cheese, or a cauliflower pizza base on the pages of a health food cookbook or on a café menu.

While cauliflower was once relegated to the role of boring side dish, its newfound popularity has turned it into a star ingredient. Join the cauliflower revolution and discover how this modest vegetable can be transformed into a delicious and healthy dish that will impress even the pickiest eaters.

Rachel Hart

Hailing from Canada, Rachel has fallen in love with life in the beautiful Bay of Plenty where she is a freelance writer with a passion for healthy food. She splits her time between telling people’s stories, creating web content and experimenting in the kitchen.

12 TH JUNE -16 TH JULY

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