Sprouting Broccoli

The hungry gap vegetable

In the British growing calendar, the period from February to May — after winter roots are exhausted and before summer crops appear — is called the hungry gap. Purple sprouting broccoli is one of the few vegetables that produces usable crops through this period, maturing in cold, frosty conditions and providing fresh green food when little else is available. Its importance in the traditional British kitchen garden was considerable before the era of supermarket imports.

Harvesting habit

Unlike head broccoli, which is grown for a single large central head, purple sprouting broccoli is a cut-and-come-again crop. The first central shoot is harvested, then the side shoots continue to develop and produce further spears over weeks. Plants picked regularly and kept from flowering can produce for six to eight weeks of continuous harvest. This extended production makes it highly valued in kitchen gardens and by growers supplying market boxes.

Purple versus white

Purple sprouting broccoli is sweeter, more tender, and generally considered superior in flavour to the white variety. The purple colour is caused by anthocyanins — antioxidant compounds also found in red cabbage and blueberries. These are partly lost in boiling; steaming or stir-frying preserves more of the colour and the anthocyanins. The purple fades to green on cooking but remains visible in the raw stem.

Cooking

Purple sprouting broccoli needs only minimal cooking — steaming or boiling for three to four minutes until the stems are just tender. It benefits from bold dressings: garlic butter, anchovy and chilli, lemon and Parmesan, or oyster sauce and sesame oil. The combination of slightly bitter brassica character and sweetness accepts both Asian and European flavour profiles with equal success.