The "pith" of the cauliflower
When using cauliflower in a recipe, there is a lot of preparation work at the beginning: removing the leaves, taking the tops or florets, etc.
It's a bit tedious, but in the end you're left with the best of the cauliflower, ready to be used in your recipe.
It's a bit tedious, but in the end you're left with the best of the cauliflower, ready to be used in your recipe.
13 K 4.9/5 (14 reviews)
Keywords for this post:CauliflowerVegetablesBroccoliRecoveryTrimmingsLeftoversUseLast modified on: February 5th 2022
The "pith" of the cauliflower
We usually go through these 3 steps:
And it is only afterwards that the recipe really begins, the tops go into the cooking process for example.
But once we're done, the work surface is covered with cauliflower leaves and trimmings, and in particular with this:
Which is the center rib of the cauliflower, on which all the heads you patiently cut and removed were hanging.
This big white thing, which french chefs curiously call "the pith", we would be tempted to throw it in the compost with the rest of the trimmings, but that would be a shame.
In fact, it can be eaten, like the tops, you just have to cut it into pieces and then treat it like the rest of the cauliflower.
You will notice that, depending on the freshness of the cauliflower, it is slightly harder than the rest, but don't worry: start cooking with only the pith for 1 minute, and then continue by adding the rest, in the usual way.
Note that this process can be applied to other cabbages: broccoli, romanesco among others.
To sum up: Do not throw away the center of cauliflower, broccoli or romanesco cabbage, this part can be cooked with the rest of the vegetable.
And it is only afterwards that the recipe really begins, the tops go into the cooking process for example.
But once we're done, the work surface is covered with cauliflower leaves and trimmings, and in particular with this:
Which is the center rib of the cauliflower, on which all the heads you patiently cut and removed were hanging.
This big white thing, which french chefs curiously call "the pith", we would be tempted to throw it in the compost with the rest of the trimmings, but that would be a shame.
In fact, it can be eaten, like the tops, you just have to cut it into pieces and then treat it like the rest of the cauliflower.
You will notice that, depending on the freshness of the cauliflower, it is slightly harder than the rest, but don't worry: start cooking with only the pith for 1 minute, and then continue by adding the rest, in the usual way.
Note that this process can be applied to other cabbages: broccoli, romanesco among others.
To sum up: Do not throw away the center of cauliflower, broccoli or romanesco cabbage, this part can be cooked with the rest of the vegetable.
Lasts posts
Oven height
When we put a dish or cake in the oven, we naturally tend to put it on the middle shelf, and that's what we usually do. But in some cases, this position and height can be a little tricky, so let's find out why.October 8th 20251,0695
The importance of sieving
In recipes that use a fine powder (flour, powdered sugar, etc.), you'll often see the advice to sift before using it. To sift is to pass the powder in question through a sieve (a very fine strainer) before incorporating it into your recipe. It's often advice, but is it really useful?September 3rd 20256,7053
The grease spray
As soon as you have something in a recipe that sticks to the mold, the question always arises as to how difficult it is to remove from the mold. There's nothing more frustrating than breaking your cake when unmolding it, because part of it has stuck in the mold. The classic way to avoid this is...August 26th 20256,1485
Cake moulds
When we make a cake, or a cake of the same rectangular shape, we usually take out our usual mould and tell ourselves that the recipe is anyway "for a cake", but is it really that simple?August 25th 20256,2665
Thinning out herbs
If you need to add a long-stemmed herb (tarragon, mint, verbena, thyme, etc.) to a recipe, you'll probably only need the leaves and not the stem, so you'll need to remove the leaves. Leaf removal means keeping only the beautiful leaves, and eliminating the ugly stems and leaves, but how do you do...August 8th 20254,4145
Other pages you may also like
Fruits which can ruin your jelly
There are many ways of making a fruit mousse, but one of the simplest is to prepare a fruit jelly (basically a fresh fruit coulis with gelatine) and then mix this jelly before it sets completely with whipped cream. The result is perfect for filling a charlotte, for example. But do beware;...March 6th 201377 K4.0
Steam for baking bread
What does steam have to do with bread-making? This is not only a bakers' secret, it is something you might not think of at all: if you make bread and bake it like a cake, you will end up with bread, but pale and with a thick, hard crust – a long way from the golden-brown crusty loaf you had in...June 16th 2021146 K4.5
Candied fruits: don't get ripped off
Do you like candied fruit? You might like to nibble a handful or add it to a recipe, like a classic fruit cake or delicious Italian specialities like panettone or sicilian epiphany pie.June 21th 201766 K 24.2
A few tips for effective kneading at home
When you have to knead dough for bread or some other recipe, you may well use a food processor or the type of machine known as a stand mixer. The best-known brands are Kenwood and KitchenAid. They are useful tools, but here are a few tips to help you get the best out of them.June 23th 2021282 K 23.7
The golden-brown finish on puff pastry
Let's take a look at the tricky matter of producing puff pastry with an attractive, golden-brown finish. French pastry chefs call this "dorure" (literally, "gilding"). Behind this quirky term there lurks a real problem (and the solution): when using puff pastry (pâte feuilletée) for a pie, or...February 8th 201847 K 24.6
Post a comment or question
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.