Views in the Field - Romanesco Discovered by Editor of Vegetable West

Views in the Field

In Madera County I happen to come upon a harvest crew on a rainy sunday morning in late December. Upon closer inspection I noticed that I was not familiar with the crop they were harvesting.

I took these pictures, did some research, and found out that the crop is Romanesco Cauliflower, an heirloom variety.

The most helpful source for the identification information was www.almostachef.com. The website noted this cruciferous vegetable is striking in unusual beauty and mathematical perfectness. It's shape is a precise illustration on the mathematical principle of fractals; a fractal being an object presenting self-similarity. In this case, all florets are identical to one another even though the size may change, and if each one were magnified, it would be an exact replica of a Romanesco cauliflower.

Another mathematical curiosity: the florets grow in a spiral, one after another.

Apparently the crop is either exported or sold in specialty shops that I've never visited.

-Editor, www.VegetablesWest.com 
Febuary 2010