Enjoyable reality: Cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, kale, and kohlrabi are all the very same plant—Brassica oleracea. That is proper, they don’t seem to be simply intently associated members of the identical botanical household or genus, they’re actually all the identical species, every a variant cultivated for one particular trait. Within the case of cauliflower (and broccoli), the plant was bred to have pronounced flower buds, which is what make up the florets we get pleasure from a lot.
Chopping up cauliflower into florets is straightforward, particularly should you can visualize the branching construction of the buds that each one develop off one central stalk; that stalk is also known as the “core” when discussing cauliflower.
Right here is easy methods to simply break cauliflower down into florets, in addition to recommendations on making cauliflower “steaks.”
The best way to Minimize Cauliflower
A step-by-step information to slicing florets and steaks.
To Minimize Cauliflower Into Florets
Utilizing a paring knife, trim away any leaves from across the base of the cauliflower. Then minimize the top into quarters.
Severe Eats / Amanda Suarez
Minimize out the central “core” from every quarter. Word: The core will be minimize up and utilized in many recipes, don’t discard it until you are sure you do not want or need it.
Severe Eats / Amanda Suarez
As soon as the core is eliminated, utilizing your arms and/or a knife, break off massive florets following their pure divisions. In some recipes, you might wish to cease there and use the big florets as-is.
Severe Eats / Amanda Suarez
For smaller florets, use a knife to chop every floret into smaller parts. If you need a extra pure division with out a completely flat minimize aspect on every floret, you should use a knife to separate the department that holds the flower buds collectively, then use your arms to drag the flower buds aside; they’ll break aside extra naturally and erratically this manner, which is typically fascinating. Use as desired.
Severe Eats / Amanda Suarez
To Minimize Cauliflower Steaks
The important thing to cauliflower “steaks” is to maintain the core intact and hooked up to every steak: It’s wanted to carry the steak collectively. Start by trimming away any inexperienced leaves rising from the bottom of the cauliflower head, then minimize it vertically into slabs about 1/2 to 1 inch thick. You’ll inevitably create some trimmings with this, because the outer florets is not going to be hooked up to the core as soon as minimize (this, in all honesty, makes cauliflower steaks a significantly better concept for eating places and a much less good one for houses, since eating places can accumulate sufficient of the trimmings to show them into one other menu merchandise, whereas house cooks cannot as simply).
Severe Eats / Eric Kleinberg