Broccoli

Brassica oleracea var. italica

Broccoli is a brassica grown for its flower buds, but its stems and leaves are edible too. It has a clean green flavor that becomes more sulfurous and sweet with heat.¹

Broccoli contains glucosinolates, sulfur-rich compounds common in brassicas and part of the plant’s defense chemistry.²

Broccoli is a flowering member of the cabbage family and can be grown as both a spring and fall crop in Maine.³

The head is not a single flower. It is a mass of thickened, partly fused flower-stalk tissue ending in clusters of small, still-closed buds; that arrested development is what gives broccoli its mixture of tender buds and firmer stems.⁴

The whole immature inflorescence is edible, but it is not equally tender throughout. The florets are the part most often preferred, while the stalk is a continuation of the same supporting stem and can be tender beneath its outer fiber. As the head matures, the buds loosen and open into yellow flowers; the change is beautiful but moves the vegetable away from the compact, crisp texture associated with market broccoli.⁵

Broccoli’s green, cabbage-like aroma is tied to its glucosinolates and the enzyme reactions that occur when cells are cut or crushed. Different tissues do not carry identical profiles, and cooking changes the balance again, which helps explain why florets, peeled stalk, and leaves can taste like related but distinct vegetables.⁶ In Maine, spring and fall plantings take advantage of the crop’s preference for cool conditions, while summer heat can push heads toward loose, premature flowering.³