Full Circle Broccoli Crowns Delivery or Pickup

To begin, rinse the entire broccoli head in cold water. Then, place the head with its crown facing down on the cutting board and the stem pointing up toward you. Next, cut downward with your knife to separate the florets from the stem. Remember, the knife never needs to touch the dark-green buds. You only ever cut the stem.

Use your hands to pull the individual florets from the base or cut them off with a knife. An average, medium-sized broccoli that weighs about 9 ounces yields about 3.5 cups of florets.

Broccoli crowns come from a type of wild cabbage known as Brassica Oleracea. It grows naturally in the Mediterranean. An ancient Roman civilization first began to cultivate it about 2,600 years ago. Through selective breeding, they produced the first broccoli. Cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, and brussels sprouts also come from this plant.

Records show broccoli was introduced in North America as early as the 1500s. Thomas Jefferson is said to have planted some of the first broccoli in the United States in the 1700s. However, the vegetable didn't become a mainstream food staple until Italian immigrants brought it to North America in the early 1900s.

The word broccoli comes from the Italian word "broccolo," meaning the flowering crest of a cabbage, and the Latin word "brocco," which means arm, branch, or shoot. Today, there are many different types of broccoli that grow all over the world, and China produces more broccoli than any other country.