The word broccoli comes from the Italian plural of broccolo, which means “the flowering crest of a cabbage“, and is the diminutive form of brocco, meaning “small nail” or “sprout”.[3] Broccoli is often boiled or steamed but may be eaten raw.[4]
Broccoli is classified in the Italica cultivar group of the species Brassica oleracea. Broccoli has large flower heads, usually green in color, arranged in a tree-like structure branching out from a thick, edible stalk. The mass of flower heads is surrounded by leaves. Broccoli resembles cauliflower, which is a different cultivar group of the same species.
Broccoli is a result of careful breeding of cultivated Brassica crops in the northern Mediterranean starting in about the 6th century BC.[5] Since the time of the Roman Empire, broccoli has been considered a uniquely valuable food among Italians.[6]Broccoli was brought to England from Antwerp in the mid-18th century by Peter Scheemakers.[7] Broccoli was first introduced to the United States by Southern Italian immigrants, but did not become widely popular until the 1920s.[8]
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The word broccoli comes from the Italian plural of broccolo, which means “the flowering crest of a cabbage“, and is the diminutive form of brocco, meaning “small nail” or “sprout”.[3] Broccoli is often boiled or steamed but may be eaten raw.[4]
Broccoli is classified in the Italica cultivar group of the species Brassica oleracea. Broccoli has large flower heads, usually green in color, arranged in a tree-like structure branching out from a thick, edible stalk. The mass of flower heads is surrounded by leaves. Broccoli resembles cauliflower, which is a different cultivar group of the same species.
Broccoli is a result of careful breeding of cultivated Brassica crops in the northern Mediterranean starting in about the 6th century BC.[5] Since the time of the Roman Empire, broccoli has been considered a uniquely valuable food among Italians.[6]Broccoli was brought to England from Antwerp in the mid-18th century by Peter Scheemakers.[7] Broccoli was first introduced to the United States by Southern Italian immigrants, but did not become widely popular until the 1920s.[8]
