Sprouts

HugalHugal Shipmate
As the Brexit thread has kind of split and now is duel Brexit and sprout thread, I thought it might be useful to start a sprouts thread. I put it in Hell because some people don’t like them.
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Comments

  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited December 2020
    Indeed not.

    Sprouts are the Vegetable of Satan, and as such belong in the lowest circles of the Hot Place.

    The Lord hath reveal'd this to me in a Dream, so therefore it is True.

    The very smell of them - even when raw! - makes me feel sick...
  • To say some people don’t like them might be a classic understatement. I loath them.

    But I think I have science on my side. Apparently, part of the population (maybe 25%, if I recall) have taste receptors that react very badly to Brussels sprouts and some other cruciferous vegetables. Those folks are called “supertasters” because, thanks to their DNA, they taste an extreme bitterness and sulfurous taste in sprouts that most people don’t taste. I think I may fall in that group; I can’t get past the bitterness of sprouts. I can handle raw cabbage or sauerkraut, but cooked cabbage is also too bitter for me. Ditto with many greens, like kale.

    That sprouts are a Christmas standard in the UK is something I learned on the Ship. (Though The Vicar of Dibley should have clued me in.) I don’t know that anyone associates them with Christmas in the States.

  • Ah-ha! The use of adjectives such as bitter and sulphurous proves beyond doubt that Hell is the place from which such Abominations come...

    Quite why they are so popular in the UK is a mystery, probably known only to Satan Himself, but it may be a subtle way of getting the people used to the taste and smell of the place to which most of them are bound.
  • NenyaNenya Shipmate
    My word, there's some strong anti-sprout feeling here. :flushed:

    I think they're a harmless enough vegetable, really - I don't like them enough to eat them at any other time than Christmas Day but my festive plate wouldn't seem complete without them. But then, I'm a creature of habit and it doesn't seem like Christmas dinner to me unless it's turkey. One year we were with Nenlet1 and son-in-law and they cooked duck.

    No. Just no.
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited December 2020
    Ah-ha! You see how easy it is to fall into Satan's trap - harmless enough, indeed...

    O how small a first step it takes to start on the downward path to the Malebolge...
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Since my mother's way with brassicas was to boil them to a state of Green Sludge Surrender, I've had to learn how to cook them properly. I'm up to speed on cabbage, but since sprouts seem only to appear around this time of year I've not had the opportunity to practice, nor yet the inducement since I never do traditional Christmas dinner,
  • Indeed not.

    Sprouts are the Vegetable of Satan, and as such belong in the lowest circles of the Hot Place.

    The Lord hath reveal'd this to me in a Dream, so therefore it is True.

    🤣 That may be true of Brussels sprouts... but you've obviously never tried Sovereign Sprouts. Completely different. Join usssss... 😈

  • Amanda B ReckondwythAmanda B Reckondwyth Mystery Worship Editor
    They're wonderful sauteed in bacon grease.
  • RuthRuth Shipmate
    Or roasted in the oven with olive oil, salt and pepper, then slathered in a balsamic vinegar and wine reduction, topped with shavings of parmesan.
  • Hmm. With all that slathering, you might as well leave out the Spro*ts, and have a lovely bacon grease, olive oil, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, wine, and parmesan SOUP.

    And you wouldn't be treading the downward slope I referred to earlier.
    Jane R wrote: »
    Indeed not.

    Sprouts are the Vegetable of Satan, and as such belong in the lowest circles of the Hot Place.

    The Lord hath reveal'd this to me in a Dream, so therefore it is True.

    🤣 That may be true of Brussels sprouts... but you've obviously never tried Sovereign Sprouts. Completely different. Join usssss... 😈

    Depart from me, O Beelzebub!
    :open_mouth:

  • Overcooked sprouts. Yes, Hell is appropriate. Along with mushy carrots and limp broccoli.

    Lightly steamed so that they keep their taste and texture ... that's Heavenly. Without doing anything fancy to them.
  • Sprouts for me are a 'Type 2 fun'. Mrs RR complains bitterly about the after-effects but insists I eat 'just a few as they are good for me'. Poetic justice, I calls it.
    "Sprouts, sprouts, are good for the heart, the more you eat the more you f*rt. The more you f*rt the better you feel, so eat some sprouts for every meal".

    There was an episode of 'Red Dwarf' which featured Lister having to eat eating sprouts whilst in quarantine.
    This year I'm to have them lightly fried in butter! Just as well the grandchildern can't visit this year.
  • Nick TamenNick Tamen Shipmate
    edited December 2020
    Lightly steamed so that they keep their taste and texture ... that's Heavenly. Without doing anything fancy to them.
    Oh sure. Prepare them a way so that they keep their taste—their horrible, vile, hellish taste. It’d be a shame to lose that.

    Nenya wrote: »
    But then, I'm a creature of habit and it doesn't seem like Christmas dinner to me unless it's turkey. One year we were with Nenlet1 and son-in-law and they cooked duck.

    No. Just no.
    Turkey is generally for Thanksgiving, not Christmas, here. Ham is often the traditionally expected meat for Christmas dinner in these parts, though this year we’re having stuffed beef tenderloin. In my particular corner of the world, the one traditional “must have” for Christmas is oysters, but they’re usually a side dish, not the main dish.

  • Ah-ha! You see how easy it is to fall into Satan's trap - harmless enough, indeed...

    O how small a first step it takes to start on the downward path to the Malebolge...

    Had to look that up. Discovered:
    Malbolge is a public domain esoteric programming language invented by Ben Olmstead in 1998
  • Ah-ha! See the deleterious effect of the Satanic Vegetable, or even just the thought of it?

    You should have looked up Malebolge (note that I used the correct speeling):
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malebolge
  • Sprouts are good for you? This must be yet anotheer instance of the long-standing English/British belief that if something tastes revoting it must have some medicinal (?purgative) effect.
  • SighthoundSighthound Shipmate
    edited December 2020
    I loathe sprouts with a passion. But I think Magistrates should be allowed to order minor offenders to eat a plate of the horrid things by way of punishment.
  • What a Spiffing Wheeze!

    Should the punitive Spr*uts be dished up raw, or cooked?
  • I ADORE sprouts. I always have seconds. Sprouts, you say? Yes, please. Yummmmm!
  • O see how the madness of Spro*tism can affect even the Holy Clergy!
    :flushed:

    (BTW - I daresay you've all noticed how this thread is distracting us from other Satanic Devices, as Covid/Kentish Kovid/Brexshit/Dim Jon Sun/Rumptrump etc. etc.).
  • NenyaNenya Shipmate
    (BTW - I daresay you've all noticed how this thread is distracting us from other Satanic Devices, as Covid/Kentish Kovid/Brexshit/Dim Jon Sun/Rumptrump etc. etc.).
    Yes. Sprouts have their uses.
  • When I was pregnant the only time I threw up was when my husband insisted I eat my sprouts cause they were good for me. I told him I'd barf... he didn't believe me. He found out.
  • I used to hate sprouts. I’ve come to an appreciation of their virtues, either roasted or chopped and sautéed.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    I think I can truthfully say I've never actually bought a Brussels sprout. I hated them as a child (it goes with the territory) and while I could tolerate them now, why would I choose to eat something that I only tolerate?

    The friend in Newfoundland who used to have us round for Christmas dinner fancied herself as very cultured and a great cook, and she always did sprouts with chestnuts; I would take a couple to be polite, but I can't say they brought me any gustatory joy.

    I can take them or leave them, and I'd as soon leave them; there'll be all the more for Miss Amanda, Ruth, Alan, Rocky Roger and Anselmina.
  • Just remember to sanctify your sprouts by cutting a cross into the base of each one. That way they taste extra heavenly.
  • No, the idea of the cross is to nullify the Daemonic Influence (or possibly Flatulence).

    It doesn't work.
  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host, 8th Day Host
    Ruth and Alan are absolutely correct! Sprouts roasted or steamed five minutes then topped with a little butter are divine!

    My BFF who loves her veggies, except for sprouts, was really disappointed when I served roasted sprouts (olive oil, butter, salt and pepper and a bit of Italian seasoning). With a big sigh, I asked that she just try one. She was totally shocked to find they were sweet and not bitter like she had experienced previously. She ate three big helpings. Plus all the other food. I don't know where she puts it all as she is very slender.
  • Lightly boiled and blended with butter, pepper and lemon juice, as long as (UK cooks) your lemons are not stuck on the continent somewhere.
  • Anselmina wrote: »
    I ADORE sprouts. I always have seconds. Sprouts, you say? Yes, please. Yummmmm!

    Yay!
  • Piglet wrote: »
    I think I can truthfully say I've never actually bought a Brussels sprout.
    Of course not. No-one ever buys them singly.

  • HelixHelix Shipmate
    Another Sprout Afficianado checking in!

    I get so happy when I see them in the shops.

    For those who don't like them - more for me!
  • My late father was a professional gardener, who ran a market garden for some years. He was of the opinion that for best taste sprouts needed to have experienced a frost before picking them.
  • Fortunately the strange habit of consuming the green horrors with Christmas dinner hasn't entered the Australian cuisine. This year we will be enjoying the usual turkey and all the trimmings (no sprouts) followed by pavlova daintily anointed with cream, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries (fruit from our garden). However, I received rather a surprise when my daughter, who invited us to Christmas at her house, then politely requested that we bring the hot turkey and decorated pavlova with us!! Apparently she will prepare the vegetables. Maybe I should take sprouts with me (evil thought).
  • My late father was a professional gardener, who ran a market garden for some years. He was of the opinion that for best taste sprouts needed to have experienced a frost before picking them.
    My wife says the same.

  • Nicely fried with bacon, yum. Or even in Brussels sprout and chestnut soup.
  • Rhubarb, your daughter has pulled a fast one. Perhaps cold turkey and hot pavlova?

  • Heavenly, concur re sprouts fried in bacon. My son-out-law introduced me to same; makes an abomination ( usually boiled to buggery as exemplified by my departed MIL) into a delicacy.
  • HugalHugal Shipmate
    I am a super taster. I cannot stand bitter food such as grapefruit. One place I worked served Florida Cocktail. A nasty mix of grapefruit with bitter orange segments (normally tinned).
    As we are coming to see putting sprouts on to cook on Bonfire Night is the worst thing to do to them. Lightly cooked they are sweet. I am doing sprouts thinly sliced and pan fried with lardons and chestnuts.
  • @Hugal I dislike sprouts intensely but I love grapefruit, especially the "ruby" ones. I start everyday with half one for breakfast, and bemoan the few weeks in the year when they are not available. But perhaps the ones grown here in Australia are different, for they are certainly not bitter.
  • Sprouts good. Sprout critics at table, very good.
  • Ruth wrote: »
    Or roasted in the oven with olive oil, salt and pepper, then slathered in a balsamic vinegar and wine reduction, topped with shavings of parmesan.

    Yummmmmmm! Now I want some badly but won't be able to get any until Christmas Eve. The shavings of Parmesan is an added delight I was unaware of. Thank you, my dear. You have given me an early Christmas present. I hope you, in turn, have a merry holiday as well.
  • Nicely fried with bacon, yum.
    A criminal waste of bacon.

    Or even in Brussels sprout and chestnut soup.
    I’m really funding it hard to imagine anything worse than Brussels sprouts soup. I’m not a big fan of soup to start with (I know, I know), and the idea of Brussels sprouts soup frankly sounds horrible to me.

  • I'm sure something has changed over the years. Some sprouts did taste bitter in the past while others didn't. Some people really didn't like sprouts after they tasted bitter ones, which I can understand though I didn't mind the bitterness. I've heard reports over recent years that the bitterness has been removed somehow (by plant breeding?) and I haven't had a bitter one in a few years now, so I think I believe it. The sad thing is that once people are convinced that "sprouts are nasty" they are hard to convince them of the truth that "New Sprouts are Nice". It's a shame.

    The 'supertaster' idea may have a little truth to it (though I think they are trying to claim they're special when they were just the whiny kids who wouldn't eat their greens/veggies).
  • We tried the sprout flavoured crisps last year. I'm not a fan of crisps, and the sprout flavour wasn't strong enough to suppress the fact that they were chips. But, my son liked them.
  • The 'supertaster' idea may have a little truth to it (though I think they are trying to claim they're special when they were just the whiny kids who wouldn't eat their greens/veggies).
    There have been lots of scientific tests going back decades on the matter of supertasters. It’s pretty well-established.

  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    [tangent]

    Is it similar to the thing that makes you taste fresh coriander as soapy? I don't, but I was chopping some a while back, and all I could smell was soap.

    [/tangent]
  • Nick TamenNick Tamen Shipmate
    edited December 2020
    Piglet wrote: »
    [tangent]

    Is it similar to the thing that makes you taste fresh coriander as soapy? I don't, but I was chopping some a while back, and all I could smell was soap.

    [/tangent]
    Yes, it is similar as I understand it. If I have it right, it’s a specific combination of genes that makes foods like Brussels sprouts really bitter, whereas with coriander/cilantro, it’s the lack of a certain gene that results in it tasting soapy.
  • I had Brussels sprouts a couple times, long ago. IIRC, I simply didn't like them--something about them being so dense, I think. Kind of like with lima beans, though different texture.

    I'm not in any rush to try them ever again. But, given the annual Shiply convos about them, I sometimes try imagine a way of prepping that might produce a try-able dish. I generally think along the lines of minced/finely-shredded sprouts--possibly marinated in something acidic, to break them down a bit. Then sauteed or stir-fried, with lemon juice, garlic, and a little oil. Maybe some onion. Maybe some caraway seeds/powder; and a little fresh cilantro added just before serving. Might also be good to add this to egg/spring roll filling.

    I wonder if anyone's ever tried using Brussels sprouts in sauerkraut, kim chi, or salsa? Or maybe dipped in batter then deep-fried? Or minced and added into a quiche?

    I gather the usual way is to serve them whole?

    Bean sprouts are good in their own way; but IMHO cooked (not in a salad), and put in an egg roll.

    Now, if we were talking the Better Sprouts (tm) ;) alfalfa, clover, etc., which are great in sandwiches and salads, I'd happily eat them without any fuss.
    :)
  • Did you know that if you're careful, you can remove the cardboard cap from a party popper, remove the curled up paper streamers & replace with a sprout. Then put the cardboard cap back on, and use the party popper to launch the sprout across the room...

    (For those with enquiring minds: this discovery was made with cooked sprouts. The alternate arms of the trial would have involved raw sprouts and frozen sprouts, bu neither were to hand... :mrgreen: )
  • HugalHugal Shipmate
    edited December 2020
    cgichard wrote: »
    @Hugal I dislike sprouts intensely but I love grapefruit, especially the "ruby" ones. I start everyday with half one for breakfast, and bemoan the few weeks in the year when they are not available. But perhaps the ones grown here in Australia are different, for they are certainly not bitter.

    These things are never exact. Anything even slightly bitter say rocket I cannot eat. There is a famous grapefruit cake in a restaurant in Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World. It also has blood orange in it. Every told me it was not that bitter. I had a small taste. Not for me. It was quite bitter
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