[6 - 8] [Music] i think of cauliflower as the rorschach
[8 - 10] i think of cauliflower as the rorschach test of the vegetable world some people
[10 - 11] pick up a heavy creamy white head of
[11 - 14] cauliflower and they see pizza some
[14 - 16] people see rice other people see thick
[16 - 18] steaks personally i see my parents
[18 - 22] arguing about money after i go to bed
[22 - 23] whatever you see and whatever that may
[23 - 25] mean about you there's no denying that
[25 - 28] cauliflower is one versatile veggie but
[28 - 29] before we head into the kitchen we first
[29 - 31] have to take a trip to the farm let me
[32 - 34] explain the white part of cauliflower is known
[34 - 36] the white part of cauliflower is known as the curd i really love that name
[36 - 38] because it does look like a creamy mound
[38 - 41] of ricotta cheese the cauliflower curd
[41 - 43] is white because it is self-blanching
[43 - 45] and by that i don't mean that it cooks
[45 - 46] itself in heavily salted water until
[46 - 49] crisp tender though that would be cool
[49 - 51] no this type of blanching happens in the
[51 - 53] field while the cauliflower is growing
[53 - 55] green vegetables turn green when they
[55 - 57] are exposed to sunlight which is
[57 - 59] required to synthesize the green pigment
[59 - 61] chlorophyll the technique of blanching
[61 - 63] purposefully keeps out the light to keep
[63 - 65] out the green to keep some asparagus
[65 - 67] white farmers mound soil around the
[67 - 70] stalks as they grow cauliflower is
[70 - 71] self-blanching because it does the job
[72 - 73] itself by enclosing the curd in leaves
[74 - 75] while it's growing trim those leaves
[75 - 77] while it's growing and you can make
[77 - 78] green cauliflower but there are other
[78 - 80] cauliflower colors to choose from
[80 - 82] there's a kind of yellowy orange
[82 - 83] cauliflower that gets its color from
[83 - 85] carotenoid pigments and there's purple
[85 - 87] cauliflower which is packed with the
[87 - 89] pigment anthocyanin and then there are
[89 - 90] other brassicas that are closely related
[90 - 92] to cauliflower there's broccoliflower
[92 - 94] which is a trademark hybrid of broccoli
[94 - 96] and cauliflower that has the texture of
[96 - 98] cauliflower but more of the flavor of
[98 - 100] broccoli and then there's the
[100 - 102] showstopper of the brassica world
[102 - 105] romanesco it has a greenish yellow hue
[105 - 107] mild cauliflower-like flavor and a
[107 - 109] striking fractal-like pattern
[109 - 111] these are all beautiful to look at but
[111 - 112] they're even more fun to cook with so
[112 - 114] let's go to the kitchen
[114 - 115] when i was growing up one of the most
[115 - 117] common ways that i saw cauliflower
[117 - 119] served was as raw florets next to a tub
[119 - 121] of ranch dressing i always marveled at
[121 - 123] the fact how much ranch dressing i could
[123 - 125] infuse into those florets and still have
[125 - 127] them taste like crunchy styrofoam
[127 - 129] packaging well there's a better way to
[129 - 131] do it and it's blanching no this time
[131 - 133] i'm not talking about keeping a white in
[133 - 134] the field now i'm talking about cooking
[134 - 136] in heavily salted water until it's crisp
[136 - 138] tender and then shocking in ice water
[138 - 139] that's good cauliflower but there's a
[139 - 141] lot more to cooking cauliflower than
[141 - 143] just that like it's fellow brassica the
[143 - 145] brussels sprout remember when we talked
[145 - 146] about them cauliflower flavor is only
[146 - 149] created when cell walls are damaged when
[149 - 151] you cut crush or chew cauliflower an
[151 - 153] enzyme called miracinase is able to come
[153 - 155] in contact with sulfur containing
[155 - 157] compounds called glucosinolates and they
[157 - 159] really hit it off creating new flavor
[159 - 161] compounds called isothiocyanates think
[161 - 163] of it like a meat cube except instead of
[163 - 165] a 90 minute romantic comedy you get
[165 - 167] flavor you can change the flavor
[167 - 170] dramatically by browning cauliflower
[170 - 172] sliced into wedges and roasted in a hot
[172 - 174] oven cauliflower develops meaty depth
[174 - 176] and because it's low in sugar you can
[176 - 178] roast it and get really deep browning
[178 - 180] for intense flavor without a tasting
[180 - 181] burn the way something like high sugar
[181 - 184] carrots would i guess in that way it is
[184 - 186] an awful lot like a steak cauliflower
[186 - 188] flavor also changes dramatically based
[188 - 190] on how long we cook it check out this
[191 - 193] experiment i cooked batches of cauliflower and
[193 - 197] i cooked batches of cauliflower and water for 10 20 30 40 50 and 60 minutes
[197 - 199] i had my colleagues taste both the
[199 - 201] cauliflower and the cooking liquid and
[201 - 203] describe the flavor they really are very
[203 - 205] good colleagues the change in flavor was
[205 - 207] dramatic in the 10 to 20 minute range
[207 - 209] the cauliflower had a green and
[209 - 211] sulfurous flavor in the 30 to 40 minute
[211 - 213] range the flavor was nutty and buttery
[213 - 215] once we got past 50 minutes we'd driven
[215 - 217] off so many volatile flavor compounds
[217 - 220] that it basically just tasted bland now
[220 - 222] that test wasn't just science for
[222 - 224] science ache let's put it to use in a
[224 - 227] super creamy super cauliflowery
[228 - 231] soup sorry you're waiting for steak rice
[231 - 233] sorry you're waiting for steak rice pizza well stick with me i might just
[233 - 234] change your mind first i'm going to cut
[234 - 236] some half inch little florets that we're
[236 - 238] going to use later as a garnish now i
[238 - 240] just cut the rest of the head into half
[240 - 242] inch thick slices half of these slices
[242 - 243] will go into the pot early so they'll
[243 - 245] cook for about 30 minutes and that's
[246 - 247] right you guessed it turn nutty and
[247 - 249] buttery and i'll add the rest about
[249 - 251] halfway through so that batch cooks for
[251 - 253] about 20 minutes it's going to provide
[253 - 256] us nice sharp green cauliflower flavor
[256 - 258] a larger range of cauliflower flavor in
[258 - 260] one pot means greater complexity but
[260 - 261] we're not done yet now we take these
[261 - 263] little florets that i cut and cook them
[263 - 265] in butter until both the butter and the
[265 - 267] cauliflower brown deeply once again we
[268 - 270] have the lovely mayard reactions at work
[270 - 271] here so this smells and tastes
[272 - 274] incredible now it's time to puree the
[274 - 276] soup now most creamy vegetable soups
[276 - 279] contain surprise surprise cream which
[279 - 280] adds a lot of richness but can really
[280 - 282] dull the flavor the fat in the cream
[282 - 284] does lubricate our tongue so that the
[284 - 286] soup feels really really smooth but the
[286 - 287] neat thing about cauliflower is it
[287 - 290] easily purees into a super smooth super
[290 - 292] creamy consistency no cream required now
[292 - 294] we just ladle the soup into the bowl
[294 - 296] spoon on our brown florets and plenty of
[296 - 297] that brown butter hit it with some
[298 - 300] chives some black pepper and this is
[300 - 303] definitely how to eat cauliflower
[305 - 307] [Music] thanks for watching what do you see when
[307 - 309] thanks for watching what do you see when you look at a beautiful head of
[309 - 310] cauliflower let me know in the comments
[310 - 312] and don't forget to hit that subscribe
[312 - 315] button see you next time