Farmer's Market Report: Mysterious Caulifower

While searching for strawberries last Sunday at the Civic Center Farmer’s Market, I saw mountains of this unusual looking cauliflower. Blowsy and loose, like a somewhat slovenly maiden aunt to the crisply compacted everyday variety, I was assured by the mostly Chinese-speaking farmer that it was even better, less bitter.

All the Chinese grandmas were grabbing it up, so I knew it had to be good. And it was—just tossed in peanut oil and roasted in a hot oven, it made a nice simple supper sprinkled with sea salt and pepper and some leftover smoked paprika scented almonds. The flavor, texture and aroma assure me that it is indeed cauliflower but I’m still curious. Does anyone have more information?

Comments (10)

Blowsy: characteristic of or befitting a slut or slattern; used especially of women. (from Google, using define:blowsy)

I think she meant for it to be taken in the sense of "loose, careless" rather than slutty.

Well... perhaps it was an exceptionally slutty cauliflower?

Blowsy: Characteristic of or befitting a slut or slattern; used especially of women - blowzy, slatternly, sluttish.

Although a secondary listing says 'ruddy'.

Still made me giggle.

My aunt used to grow cauliflower to stay white she had to tie the leaves very tightly over the white part maybe those arent tied you can see the purple from the sun hitting them.

Goodness. I was going with the Merriam-Webster definition which is
"having a sloppy or unkempt appearance or aspect"

In principle, I have no objection to slatternly vegetables, but I'm not sure I would choose a cauliflower as a primary example. But please, keep the giggles coming.

On "blowsy" -- actually, I've most often seen the word applied to types of flowers, particularly roses -- ones with the big, burst-open blooms rather than the prim little tea roses. I do get the appilcation here, then, for the record....

As for this instance: there are different types of colors of cauliflower, but I think all you've got there is a case where someone didn't secure the inner leaves around the flowers to protect them. So essentially what you've got is just "wild cauliflower" as opposed to a different variety.

There are varieties of sprouting broccoli; I wonder if this is just a type of sprouting cauliflower?

married women can't let themselves go? mothers can't?

Dana, that's the one I was thinking of, but not what came up when I googled it. I'm often quite good at knowing, in my head, what a word means without being able to articulate it. The disconnect of having a word I normally associate with people didn't help, although it did amuse!

it looks like broccoflower to me, a hybrid of broccoli and cauliflower.