Sprouts, healthy vegetables!

A sprout is a little green ball which belongs to the category vegetables. Stranly, there aren’t many people who like sprouts. Most children do not eat them, and sometimes get afraid by even hearing the word sprout.

Season

Sprouts grow in the winter, from October till February. The so called mini cabbages are then at their best. Sprouts grow in the leaf armpits if the sprout cabbage plant. In wintertime, the sprouts are full of vitamins and iron, which both are good for immunity. Nevertheless, most are not bothered by this benefit, for the taste remains awful.

Control by senses

Sprouts are especially disliked by children, although there are many full grown who dislike them as well. Some experts agree that the body resists when eating sprouts. This is because all the food that is taken in, is first checked by the senses on suitability. The body checks if the food is not poisonous or rotten. The nose and taste papilla naturally know what’s good for the body, and what not. Sprouts have a rather bitter taste, which is recognized by the body as being rotten or poisonous. Experts therefore agree that it’s is logical for babies and children to dislike the taste of sprouts, because they have a naturally born aversion against bitter tastes.

If this theory is valid however, still remains to be seen.

Poison

And sprouts indeed contain a tiny little bit of poison. This can be seen when a silver spoon is held in the water in which the sprouts are cooking. The part that is in the water will become black because of the sulphur, which is somewhat poisonous. Sulphur can not only be found in sprouts, it is found in, for example, chicory as well. It isn’t any wonder then, that this vegetable is in the top ten of most disliked vegetables as well. Nevertheless, the amount of sulphur that is present in sprouts is only small. People will not fall ill all of a sudden when eating sprouts.

Oldfashioned stinking sprouts are rarely seen nowadays. The sprouts that come from the greengrocer do not taste that awful, for the farmers mostly remove the poisonous part of the sprout, so less poisonous substances are found in sprouts nowadays. However, in small amounts these poisonous goods are healthy, because they protect against cardiovascular disease. There is an old saying illustrating this: ‘bitter tastes in the mouth are healthy for the hearts’ (unfortunately the saying does not rhyme in English, which it does in Dutch)

Taste corrigents

Because many people think sprouts to be bitter and dislike the taste, it could be a recommendation to try the following advices, which would make a sprout more likable.

• Ad some bacon, union and tomatoes
• Cover the cooked sprouts with ham and cheese and put it under the grill
• Cook some grapes together with the sprouts, this would make the sprouts a bit more sweet
• Stew the sprouts with little pieces of apple to give them a more sweet taste.

Sources: www.todio.nl