Seasonal food: cauliflower

The cauliflower is, depending on how you look at it, either an easy or very difficult vegetable to slot into a series on food in season - it's never unavailable, with varieties planted throughout the warmer months to ensure a year-round supply. Like broccoli, calabrese and romanesco it's a brassica, and in a way its biology picks up where romanesco's leaves off. All these three store nutrients for the developing flower head in the flesh just below the buds, but the cauliflower is the unopposed master of this technique and the curds, as the florets are known, end up packed full of vitamins and minerals. The origins of brassica oleracea are, as is traditional in the world of vegetable history, a matter of some disagreement. The French maintain that it comes from Cyprus and in days of yore called cauliflowers choux de Chypre - Cyprus cabbages. Unsurprisingly, Cypriots agree, but almost everywhere else credits the Arab world with first producing the cauliflower and then keeping its flame burning during the dark ages and subsequently reintroducing it to Europe. The English habit of shortening the name to caulis harks back (coincidentally, in all likelihood) to the very same word in Latin, meaning stem or stalk. Varieties All Year Round is a good performer, Walcheren Winter Pilgrim has a reputation for producing splendid, reliable heads, and if you have room for summer cauliflowers, Gypsy has an RHS Award of Garden Merit and looks great. For more on growing your own cauliflowers, click here . How to buy / what to look for Larger ones have more flavour. The leaves are a window on the heart - if they're in good condition, chances are the florets are too. If you do end up with a specimen that's going a bit brown, trim the offending bits off but do it quickly as your cauli won't last much longer. Nutrition Lots of vitamin C and B6 and useful quantities of folate, protein and fibre. Harvested Summer: June - October Winter: November - May Storage In a paper bag in the fridge a whole cauliflower should keep satisfactorily for a week. Keep upside down to prevent condensation forming on top of the curds. Basic cooking Stripped of greenery the curd can be dismembered, washed and briefly boiled or steamed (the longer it's cooked, the stronger the telltale brassica smell and taste becomes). Leaf ribs and the core may be used in stock. Goes with / good in The cauli's receptiveness to spicier flavours like cumin, turmeric, chilli and ginger renders it invaluable in many dishes from the Indian subcontinent. It also pairs famously with cheese, and very pleasingly with mustard, lemon and green beans. Recipes Nigel Slater's cauliflower gratin with oat and sunflower seed crust Atul Kochhar's Gujarati cauliflower Yotam Ottolenghi's saffron cauliflower Heston Blumenthal's cauliflower risotto Yotam Ottolenghi's vegetable and coconut curry recipe