A (Brussels Sprout) Tree Grows in Our Apartment

Sunday, we were the belle of the Ballard Farmers' Market. We’d like to attribute it to our warm countenance and general appeal, but really it was our Brussels Sprouts. For $3 paid to Sidhu Farms we became the proud mama of a majestic stalk of Brussels sprouts.

Four feet tall with spirals of sprouts clinging to the hearty stalk and crowned with a plume of leathery leaves, it was a thing to behold. And beheld it was. By every man, woman and child in Ballard and the surrounding neighborhoods.

Unknown to many of the fine people with whom we spoke, Brussels sprouts do indeed grow on large treelike stalks, from which they sprout in a beautifully regular spiral pattern. It’s sad to think--unlike so many universally-liked vegetables that present themselves to the world in a plain and obvious fashion--that the Brussels sprout puts on such an elaborate show only to be scorned.

Despite their reputation, they really are delicious--slightly sweet and much like their larger cousins in the cabbage family. Named for the city of Brussels (where they were originally cultivated), they are always Brussels sprouts and never brussel sprouts.

Now we don’t generally get all Alice Waters-y and precious when we talk about vegetables, but to our mind, Brussels sprouts are the peacock of the vegetable world. So when we arrived home at last alone with our sprouts, we stuck them in a big vase, brewed a cup of tea and admired them for good long while.

We’ve yet to decide what to do with so many lovely sprouts. But they are incredible, no?

Photo by Rachael Coyle