The Complete Handbook of Broccoli

Chapter 1: Understanding Broccoli

Broccoli is a cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea, a single botanical species that also gave rise to cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and Brussels sprouts. What you buy, handle, and sell is the immature inflorescence of the plant: a dense cluster of underdeveloped flower buds, attached to a thick, fleshy stalk. The plant's entire biological imperative is to convert those buds into yellow flowers and set seed. Your job in the supply chain is to interrupt that process at the point of maximum edible quality, and then to keep the buds dormant long enough to get the product to a plate. Understanding this simple fact explains nearly every practical rule in this handbook, from harvest timing to the exact temperature of your cooler.

The edible head, or crown, forms at the apex of the main stem. This is a terminal shoot that stops growing once it is cut. After the main head is harvested, the plant will often produce smaller side shoots from axillary buds lower on the stalk. These side shoots are the basis for the specialty product known as sprouting broccoli, which is harvested multiple times over a period of weeks. In commercial agriculture, most production is of the heading type, grown for a single, large central head. This is the classic broccoli found in most grocery stores. The decision of which type to grow or buy is not a matter of aesthetics; it is driven by a calculation of yield, labor cost, and