Gai for Broccoli

Saucyman, What is the difference between Chinese Broccoli and Broccoli-Broccoli? - Vegger

Well broccoli-broccoli or more specifically, Brassica oleracea var. Italica is a European descendant of wild cabbage. The word broccoli gives away its specific Mediterranean roots first by ending with a vowel, then the root brocco, comes from the Italian meaning spout or shoot depending on how you translate.

Here in the states, where the taste profiles of sweet, salty, caramel and fatty win the day over what some (judgmental) people might call, more complex flavors; the veg is thought of less lovingly. Broccoli suffers the greatest indignity, worse than being baked into a hot dish or buried in a sea of cheese sauce that would make nachos envious, broccoli is thought of as ‘good for you’ instead of just good. And while nutrition and health are far more complicated than eating small portions of foods that are either (and falsely) good or bad, broccoli and other members of the cruciferous gang are sold to the public as being rich in vitamins and foods that fight cancer. A description that invites people to eat them only in times of duress.

There is only so much Chinese you can pick up by reading lower back tattoos – Stephen Colbert

Gai-lan or sometimes Kai-lan or Chinese Broccoli and sometimes known as Chinese Kale, 芥末蘭花, is loosely translated as mustard orchid, which is the greatest translation ever of anything – even better than the new translation of Anna Karenina, its rendering into English combines the beauty and fragility of a flower with the greatness of all things mustard.

Like Saucyman’s soul, the Chinese variety of the plant is dark and bitter. Unlike my soul, the Chinese variety prized more for its stems than buds or edible leaves. Actually, the plant appears to be more stem and leaf compared to the more familiar cluster of buds found in the broccoli-broccoli cultivar. Brassica alboglabra, as it is known to the biologically inclined, is a niche crop, grown in regional locales for specialty grocery and restaurants. If there were an epicenter for Gai-lan cultivation it in would be in the greater Fresno area - which has over 2000 acres of what the local paper unfortunately calls - oriental vegetables - under cultivation.

Gai-lan is not to be confused with the stem-centric rapini a.k.a broccoli raab, rabe & brocoletti, which boasts an Italian linage and appears to have been cultivated from turnip greens. At the grocery you can find the similar looking but less bitter (tasting), broccolini, which is a cross between broccoli-broccoli and Chinese broccoli.

Confused? There are more common ancestors in that mix than the Hapsburg family tree and like individual members of a royal family, there ends up being a lot of similarities in appearance. Both the Chinese and the Western broccolis are members of the cruciferous family of plants - who bring us some of the best things in life – mustard, wasabi, cauliflower, rape/canola seeds, cabbage – and its diminutive form, those wee cabbages of love: brussels sprout(s). Kale, collards, mizuna, arugula and all sorts of greens are also vegetable relatives of broccoli – And maybe I like these flavors becuase, like my soul they are bitter, they are good – Try some.