When is romanesco cauliflower in season

Once the plants are in the tricky bit's over — just keep your Italian charmers well watered in dry weather water at the base of the plant to avoid splashing the leaves and check and treat for insect pests such as cutworm. When it comes to cooking Romanesco cauliflower, less is definitely more. Prepare harvested curds by rinsing them under cold water before cutting out the central stalk so that the individual florets fall away.

Plunge the prepared florets into a pan of boiling salted water and cook for no more than five minutes. You can also steam them. Serve with a grind of salt and pepper and perhaps a small knob of butter for a luxuriant finish. The florets are delicious partnered with Parmesan cheese, a hint of lemon juice or roasted garlic cloves.

Or serve the florets raw for a crunchy texture in salads. Photograph at top of page courtesy of Suttons Seeds. Sowing Romanesco Cauliflower Seed Sow from spring to midsummer to give a succession of curds.

Planting Out Strong Seedlings Romanesco cauliflowers need fertile soil — perhaps improved over the winter with plenty of well-rotted manure or compost. The French maintain that it comes from Cyprus and in days of yore called cauliflowers choux de Chypre - Cyprus cabbages. Unsurprisingly, Cypriots agree, but almost everywhere else credits the Arab world with first producing the cauliflower and then keeping its flame burning during the dark ages and subsequently reintroducing it to Europe.

The English habit of shortening the name to caulis harks back coincidentally, in all likelihood to the very same word in Latin, meaning stem or stalk. All Year Round is a good performer, Walcheren Winter Pilgrim has a reputation for producing splendid, reliable heads, and if you have room for summer cauliflowers, Gypsy has an RHS Award of Garden Merit and looks great.

For more on growing your own cauliflowers, click here. Larger ones have more flavour. The leaves are a window on the heart - if they're in good condition, chances are the florets are too. You can wait until you have larger flower heads, or harvest smaller flowerheads, as with sprouting broccoli, and get a second crop. Romanesco is best eaten freshly harvested.

However you can store for up to two weeks in a refrigerator or cool larder. Not sure how to cook romanesco? Try this tasty romanesco freekeh recipe from our friends at Olive Magazine. Protect young seedlings and plants from slugs and snails and when you transplant them, make sure you net plants against pigeon damage. Club root can also be a problem, as for all members of the Brassica family.

Browse the fantastic range of fully mature hardy perennials, shrubs, ferns, grasses and bulbs to create a spectacular garden to enjoy all year round.

Use code: GW Kick start the festive season and get in touch with your creative side with our minute online class on creating Christmas wreaths with natural materials. But, looks aside, romanesco is delicious. Its flavour is somewhere between broccoli and cauliflower, with a sweet, vegetal nuttiness - and it's bereft of the slightly bitter edge cauliflower can have.

Apparently, children tend to like it for this very reason. I can't claim to have conducted research on that point, but I hope it's true as, like all brassicas, romanesco is packed with good things: super-rich in antioxidants, vitamin C, fibre - you name it. This is an old Italian vegetable variety that's been rediscovered and promoted by chefs such as Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray at the River Cafe.

Consequently, it's now getting easier to find in supermarkets, farm shops and good greengrocers.