A battle of the florets has broken out after reports this week suggested that the classic cauliflower has been overtaken in popularity by broccoli.
A 35 per cent fall in cauliflower production over the last ten years has led to fears growers are turning their back on the white wonder which has also appeared in orange and purple form.
This had led to a call in The Times to save the classic British cauliflower this week however this sparked a inflamed reaction from the Italian Minister of Agriculture, Luca Zaia, who argued Italian broccoli tasted just as good.
“I invite British people to taste our broccoli and test its flavour and quality for themselves,” he said.
“If you eat broccoli, extra virgin olive oil and pasta you will be fit, lose weight and live better. We know from experience that the British cauliflower can be good.”
Last year just 9,503 hectares of land were used to produce cauliflowers, compared with 13,382 hectares ten years earlier while cauliflower production fell by 75,000 tonnes from 1997 to 2007.
Writing in the Guardian TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: “The most memorable things I had in the whole of last year was a cauliflower and truffle soup at Northcote Manor in Lancashire, which was absolutely delicious.
“I am now fully converted to cauliflower. The thing about it is that it stands up to a lot of adventure. Boiled and stuck on the side of the plate it possibly doesn't enthuse. But try any of these ideas and it really will.It does need to be fresh and firm with close, dense, hard flowery bits.”
Phillip Effingham, the chairman of the Brassica Growers Association, said: “Britain seems to have fallen out of love with the cauliflower over the last ten years and sales have been declining steadily. We want to start a revival of cauliflower. It's so sad to see its decline due to the success of broccoli. We want to restore the cauliflower to its rightful place on our dinner tables. We are forgetting the basics - its nutritional value, the fact that it's British and its versatility.”
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