Brussels Sprouts

Brassica oleracea gemmifera, a member of the cabbage family, resembling miniature cabbages that grow in a knobby row on a long stalk. The Romans called these tender knobs bullata gemmifera ("diamond makers"), because consumption was alleged to increase a diner's mental dexterity. Marc Antony is said to have chewed Brussels sprouts for days before the battle of Actium. What was true about this mini-cabbage during antiquity was its rareness. Roman chefs imported them from Western Europe, where they grew wild. Because the cabbage formed a "head", early surgeons believed Brussels sprouts were a natural cure for a hangover (according to Roman historian Pliny).

They are said to have originated near Brussels, Belgium. The Dutch botanist Rembertus Dodonaeus made the first mention of Brussels sprouts as a variety of cabbage in 1554. Brussels sprouts have been a source of Flemish national pride for more than eight centuries. But not until 1820 was the Brussels sprout publicly recognized by the king of Belgium as the country's official green. In 1623, one botanist described some plants he had heard of (but never seen) that "bear 50 heads the size of an egg." Two hundred years later, an American botanist improved on the story by writing about a "thousand-headed cabbage." The Germans give Brussels sprouts their most romantic name: rosenkohl, meaning "rose cabbages", a pretty and eloquent name, as they look like small rosebuds. The French dub them chou de Bruxelles (literally, "the cabbage of Brussels"), and the Italians cavolina di Brusselle ("the little cabbage of Brussels").

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