The Grown Diaries

Oof. This is a big one — the Brussels Sprout. Barbara over at Tigers and Strawberries was once a B-Sprout hater supreme. As she wrote earlier today:

I used to hate brussels sprouts, and could never understand why in the world anyone in possession of their senses would ever want to eat one, much less more than one of these mutant, alien miniature cabbage heads. They were mushy, watery, bitter, and smelled like–well, like a dirty toilet, as far as I could tell.

Amen, sister!

But hark! Apparently that is not the end of the story.

It turns out that everyone in my childhood days just overcooked brussels sprouts. And apparently, the longer you cook them, especially if you are boiling them, the more bitter they become–probably because the sugar is leached out into the cooking water, leaving only the smelly and nasty sulphur compounds behind.

Read Barbara’s entire entry, “Brussels Sprouts: A Much Maligned Vegetable Finally Comes Home”, for the truth on these diminutive, leafy balls of (reportedly misplaced) loathing. The story of her pushing her boundaries at a restaurant last night, as well as a recipe for the brave, might serve to prod you into pushing your own proverbial boundary a little farther.

The bottom line, and the spirit of The Grown Diaries, is to try something you hate, but try it done right.

As for me, I’ll for certain get around to the Brussels Sprout taste test.

Eventually. ;)