The fourth time of year ofLeave It to Beaveropenswith a haunting line : “ Beaver , eat your Brussels sprouts . ”
The directive fall from Mrs. Cleaver , who then spends most of the episode trying to gently channelize her son into abidance using every disciplinary trick in the book . He in conclusion chokes down a sprout thanks to a well - time slap on the back from expectant pal Wally , and walks away from the whole affair having learned a worthful lesson : Parents peck because they wish .
As for Beaver ’s newfound appreciation for the diminutivebudsthemselves , it stops short at “ I think it ’s gon na stay down there”—in other give-and-take , “ I like this enough not to involuntarily puke it back up . ”
Childhood averting tovegetables — and Brussels sprouts in particular — is such a familiar television figure of speech that Beaver ’s plight may elicit a nostalgic twinge even if you never had an issue caparison a portion of them yourself . Or maybe you did , and you just take on you outgrew the trouble as your palate grew more refined .
But there ’s more to the story than untested sense of taste bud : Brussels sprouts reallydidused to taste bad .
The Bitter Truth
“ In the tardy 1960s , our industry switched over to mechanised harvesting , which required a flora that would mature fairly evenly over the entire stem , ” Brussels sprouts Fannie Merritt Farmer Steve Bontadelli toldMEL Magazinein 2021 . The best sprouts for the line of work came at a cost : They were “ awfully virulent , ” he explicate , “ and we turned off an full generation . ”
Anti - sprout sentiment began to dissipate in the 1990s , for the most part because the sprouts themselves became less bitter . AsNPR report , a mathematical group of Dutch biotechnologists led by Hans van Doornpinpointedthe chemical compounds behind the sprout ’s characteristic sharpness — a couple of glucosinolates calledsinigrinandprogoitrin .
After trawling their stores for erstwhile seminal fluid that were low in those potent compound , Dutch seed supplier venture on a eld - tenacious missionary station to spawn the ideal plant : one that would wrick out not - too - acrid Brussels sprouts , and do so speedily enough to keep up with advanced product standards . Their winner helped sling the once - traduce veg to culinary stardom , especially in the U.S.
A New Hot Take
Culinary celebrities helped , too — like Momofuku ’s David Chang , whoseBrussels sprouts with kimchi purée and baconinspired other chefs tothink outside the box . The 1990s also saw the hike of the Food connection , giving viewers at menage a behind - the - scenes look at how to make Brussels sprout and other polarizing veggies really smack good .
That magic typically regard oven - roasting , which had in the end started to supplant boiling as Western culture ’s de facto method of vegetable readiness . Why it took so long to catch on , asSlate ’s J. Bryan Lowder explainedin 2014 , was partially due to the long - held belief that oven were in the main intended for sugar and other scorched goods ( plus the periodic substance ) , while veggies stayed on the stovetop . pop cookbook likeJoy of CookingandThe Fannie Farmer Cookbookreinforced this detachment by advising stewing , steaming , and sauteing for veggie .
According to Lowder , chefs Johanne Killeen and George Germon led the electric charge to make oven - roasting a affair pretty much by accident : When they opened their eating place , Al Forno , in Providence , Rhode Island , in 1980 , it only had an oven . Using it to blackguard vegetables knead out so well that they simply never stopped , and also ended up recommending the proficiency in their 1991 cookbookCucina Simpatica . By 1993 , roasting had become such a hit in eating house kitchens thatNew York Timesfood critic Florence Fabricant put out adetailed reviewof its meritoriousness for everything fromfruits and vegetablesto seafood .
When flavor withfish sauce(another Momofuku innovation ) or fatheaded Balsamic acetum and roasted to crispy perfection , even an extra - bitter Brussels sprout is believably preferable to a modest one that ’s simply been boiled . But thanks to the Dutch innovators who break the code on the flavor visibility , we now have the best of both world . miserable Beaver will never know the pleasure .
[ h / tNPR ]
