I walk in the Addison Community Garden, and there is a beautiful broccoli plant. I didn’t realize that it takes so many leaves to produce one broccoli plant. I don’t know if the broccoli leaves are used for anything or not. Do you like broccoli? I know there are a lot of people who don’t. George H. W. Bush is famous for saying he didn’t like broccoli. I do like broccoli. I often eat it steamed with lemon zest on it. Another favorite is roasted broccoli. You just toss it with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake in the oven at 425 degrees for 25 minutes. I also like broccoli cheese soup, beef broccoli stir fry, broccoli slaw and broccoli casserole. It is a highly versatile vegetable. Want to find out more about it? Read on.
Broccoli or is an edible green plant in the cabbage family — family Brassicaceae, genus Brassica — whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. The word broccoli comes from the Italian plural of broccolo, which means "the flowering crest of a cabbage," and is the diminutive form of brocco, meaning "small nail" or "sprout."
Broccoli is classified in the Italica cultivar group of the species Brassica oleracea. Broccoli has large flower heads, usually dark green in color, arranged in a tree-like structure branching out from a thick stalk which is usually light green. The mass of flower heads is surrounded by leaves. Broccoli resembles cauliflower, which is a different but closely related cultivar group of the same Brassica species. In 2017, China and India combined produced 73% of the world's broccoli and cauliflower crops.
Broccoli resulted from breeding of landrace Brassica crops in the northern Mediterranean starting in about the sixth century BCE. Broccoli has its origins in primitive cultivars grown in the Roman Empire and was most likely improved via artificial selection in the southern Italian peninsula or Sicily. Broccoli was spread to northern Europe by the 18th century and brought to North America in the 19th century by Italian immigrants. Later breeding of European, North American, Asian F1 hybrids supported international production.
It is eaten either raw or cooked. Broccoli is a particularly rich source of vitamin C and vitamin K. Contents of its characteristic sulfur-containing glucosinolate compounds, isothiocyanates and sulforaphane are diminished by boiling, but are better preserved by steaming, microwaving or stir-frying.
Rapini — sometimes called "broccoli raab" — is a distinct species from broccoli, forming similar but smaller heads and is actually a type of turnip or Brassica rapa.
Other cultivar groups of Brassica oleracea
Other cultivar groups of Brassica oleracea include cabbage (Capitata Group), cauliflower and Romanesco broccoli (Botrytis Group), kale (Acephala Group), collard (Viridis Group), kohlrabi (Gongylodes Group), Brussels sprouts (Gemmifera Group) and kai-lan (Alboglabra Group). As these groups are the same species, they readily hybridize; for example, broccolini or "Tenderstem broccoli" is a cross between broccoli and kai-lan. Broccoli cultivars form the genetic basis of the "tropical cauliflowers" commonly grown in South and Southeastern Asia, although they produce a more cauliflower-like head in warmer conditions.
Varieties
There are three commonly grown types of broccoli. The most familiar is Calabrese broccoli, often referred to simply as "broccoli", named after Calabria in Italy. It has large green heads and thick stalks. It is a cool-season annual crop. Sprouting broccoli — white or purple — has a larger number of heads with many thin stalks. Purple cauliflower or violet cauliflower is a type of broccoli grown in Europe and North America. It has a head shaped like cauliflower but consisting of many tiny flower buds. It sometimes — but not always — has a purple cast to the tips of the flower buds. Purple cauliflower may also be white, red, green or other colors.
Other popular cultivars include Belstar, Blue Wind, Coronado Crown, Destiny, DiCicco, Green Goliath, Green Magic, Purple Sprouting, Romanesco, Sun King and Waltham 29.
Beneforté is a variety of broccoli containing 2–3 times more glucoraphanin and produced by crossing broccoli with a wild Brassica variety, Brassica oleracea var villosa.
Production
In 2018, global production of broccoli — combined for production reports with cauliflowers — was 26.5 million tons, with China and India together accounting for 74% of the world total. Secondary producers, each having about one million tons or less annually, were the United States, Spain and Mexico.
In the United States, broccoli is grown year-round in California — which produced 92% of the crop nationally — with 95% of the total crop produced for fresh sales in 2018.
Cultivation
The majority of broccoli cultivars are cool-weather crops that do poorly in hot summer weather. Broccoli grows best when exposed to an average daily temperature between 64 and 73 °F. When the cluster of flowers — also referred to as a "head" of broccoli — appear in the center of the plant, the cluster is generally green. Garden pruners or shears are used to cut the head about an inch from the tip. Broccoli should be harvested before the flowers on the head bloom bright yellow.
Pests
Mostly introduced by accident to North America, Australia and New Zealand, "cabbage worms," the larvae of Pieris rapae — also known as the "small white" butterfly — are a common pest in broccoli. Additional pests common to broccoli production include:
- Aphids.
- Cabbage looper.
- Cabbage webworm.
- Cross-striped cabbageworm.
- Diamondback moth caterpillars.
- Imported cabbageworm.
- Cabbage maggot.
- Harlequin bug.
Nutrition
A 100 gram reference serving of raw broccoli provides 34 calories and is a rich source — 20% or higher of the daily value — of vitamin C (107% DV) and vitamin K (97% DV). Raw broccoli also contains moderate amounts (10–19% DV) of several B vitamins and the ditary mineral manganese, whereas other micronutrients are low in content (less than 10% DV). Raw broccoli is 89% water, 7% carbohydrates, 3% protein and contains negligible fat.
Cooking
Boiling substantially reduces the levels of broccoli glucosinolates, while other cooking methods — such as steaming, microwaving and stir frying — have no significant effect on glucosinolate levels. Glucosinolates are natural components of many pungent plants such as mustard, cabbage and horseradish. The pungency of those plants is due to mustard oils produced from glucosinolates when the plant material is chewed, cut or otherwise damaged. These natural chemicals most likely contribute to plant defense against pests and diseases and impart a characteristic bitter flavor property to cruciferous vegetables.
Taste
The perceived bitterness of cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli varies from person to person, but the functional underpinnings of this variation are not known. Some research reports that the gene TAS2R38 may be responsible for bitter taste perception in broccoli. Other factors, such as isothiocyantes and polyphenols, are also likely involved in bitterness perception. In some varieties the normally bitter tasting compounds are in less volatile forms.
George H. W. Bush broccoli comments
41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush mentioned his distaste for broccoli a number of times. The first mention of broccoli during Bush's presidency was in March 1990, when he made a joke that the workers in the Office of Personnel Management would get merit pay “in broccoli.” Shortly after, a journalist from U.S. News and World Report broke the story that Bush banned the vegetable from Air Force One. In response, the broccoli growers of America pledged to send a number of trucks of the vegetable to the White House.
When asked if he'd lost “the broccoli vote” because of his comments, Bush made the following casual remark about the vegetable outside the White House in an exchange with reporters:
I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid. And my mother made me eat it. And I'm President of the United States. And I'm not gonna eat any more broccoli! ... For the broccoli vote out there, Barbara loves broccoli. She's tried to make me eat it. She eats it all the time herself. So, she can go out and meet the caravan of broccoli that's coming in from Washington.
— George H. W. Bush
George S. Dunlop, President of the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association, gave First Lady Barbara Bush a bouquet of the vegetable and an additional 10 tons in trucks. A few days afterwards, Bush hosted a state dinner to honor Tadeusz Mazowiecki, the Prime Minister of Poland, and journalists noted there was no broccoli on the menu, as most of the 10 tons of broccoli given to the President's family by the farmers had been donated to the Capital Area Food Bank.
Analysis
Analysis shows that Bush mentioned his hatred of the vegetable 70 times while he was in public office. His speech on broccoli was seen as out of touch with most Americans; broccoli was becoming more popular in the United States and had been seen as the "vegetable of the 80s."
Bush's anti-broccoli comments did not go down well with the farming community of the U.S. and opened up a nationwide debate on Bush's eating habits, in particular his fondness for unhealthy foods such as beef jerky, as well as his ungallant eating habits. Many parents — who were trying to get their children to eat vegetables — were enraged at the president's comments. His thyroid condition — later announced to be Graves’ disease — led many Americans to write to the President saying that he should have eaten more broccoli because of its health benefits.
It was seen — alongside his later vomiting incident during which he vomited on the Prime Minister of Japan, Kiichi Miyazawa after a bout of the 24-hour flu — as an example of one of Bush's tendency for political gaffes.
Legacy
Even when he vacated the office of President, Bush talked about his dislike of broccoli on Twitter. In 1992, Hillary Clinton and Tipper Gore — wives of the Democratic candidates Bill Clinton and Al Gore — ran on a "Let's put broccoli in the White House again" campaign in 1992.
In 2001, George H. W. Bush's son, 43rd U.S. President George W. Bush, almost caused a diplomatic incident after he gave a thumbs-down to broccoli on a state visit to Mexico; Mexico's president at the time, Vincente Fox, was a keen broccoli grower and owned a substantial broccoli farm in the country.
“The broccoli argument” became a symbol for those opposed to health care reform in the United States proposed by and Barack Obama, as an example of forcing the American public to purchase something they find distasteful because of its beneficial nature. The first example of this usage was in a 2009 CNS News column titled "Can Obama and Congress Order You to Buy Broccoli?". The “broccoli argument” was referenced by former conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in his anti-Obamacare summation of 2012, who said: "Everybody has to buy food sooner or later. Therefore, you can make people buy broccoli."
44th President of the United States Barack Obama announced in 2013 that his favorite vegetable was broccoli at an anti-obesity event for children. These remarks were immediately compared to those of George H. W. Bush and ABC News’s Liz Neporent said that broccoli "has long been a political vegetable". However, many questioned the veracity of his comments; Comedy Cntral tweeted "Obama tells kid journalist his favorite food is broccoli. And his favorite activity is lying to children".He had also been seen eating junk food, burgers and hot dogs throughout the campaign trail.
George W. Bush mentioned his father's dislike of broccoli in a eulogy at his 2018 funeral.
Broccoli Co. Ltd.
Broccoli Co., Ltd. is a Japanese media company that publishes manga, anime, cideo games and trading card games. It operates a chain of retailers in Japan called Gamers which carries similar products and accessories. Broccoli is best known for its Di Gi Charat, Galaxy Angel and Aquarian Age franchises.
Satsuki Yamashita, the editor of Broccoli Books, explained that the company derived its president's desire to create a memorable name similar to that of Apple Inc. While trying to imagine another fruit or vegetable, he arrived at broccoli. This coincidentally has the same name in nearly every language.
On January 23, 2008, Broccoli announced it would be collaborating with leading industry retailer Animate to form a new company called "AniBro." Broccoli holds a minority 30% ownership of the company, which is managed by the CEO of Animate.
Broccoli song
"Broccoli" is a single by American rapper DRAM featuring rapper Lil Yachty. It was released on April 6, 2016, by Atlantic Records and Empire Distribution. The lead single from DRAM's debut studio album “Big Baby DRAM,” was produced by J. Gramm, with Rogét Chahayed as co-producer. It received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.
The song was released for digital download as a single on April 6, 2016. It is the first single from DRAM's debut studio album, “Bib Baby DRAM,” which was released in October 2016. A limited edition picture disc 7" vinyl version of the song was released on November 25, as part of Record Store Day’s Black Friday sale. In an interview with Genius, DRAM spoke on the creation process behind the song:
"I was first introduced to Yachty through Rick Rubin. I was in Shangri La, and Rick asked me if he could bring Yachty through. We linked and played each other music. A good month later, one of my main camera guys was following Yachty around during his SXSW run, and I came about during the conversation. We exchanged numbers and I saw he was in LA, so I called him and he answered on the first fucking ring. He came to the studio, and we had the loop of this going. We weren’t sure on what was going to make it carry over. At first, it was the piano with the drum loop, we had the flute and when that went in, everyone started vibing. Yachty started on his verse and I didn’t have any bars at first, so I told him to go in. When he left, I didn’t even have my verse, I just had the bridge."
"Broccoli" debuted at number 87 on Billboard Hot 100 for the chart dated July 2, 2016. It rose to number 65 on the Hot 100 the following week and has peaked at number 5, making it DRAM and Lil Yachty's first top 5 entry. As of January 2017, the song has sold 1,104,000 copies in the United States. The song was certified quintuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on April 6, 2017, for combined sales and streaming-equivalent points of five million units in the United States.
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