COOKING CAULIFLOWER. 197 



Cauliflower is not wholly free from the odor 

 which renders the cooking of cabbage so unpleas- 

 ant, but in this respect it is much less objectionable 

 than cabbage. As with cabbage, this odor is in 

 some cases more marked than in others, depending 

 on the character of the soil, and the quantity and 

 nature of the manure used. A small piece of red 

 pepper added to the water in which cauliflower or 

 cabbage is boiled prevents to a large extent this un- 

 pleasant odor and improves their flavor. To ob- 

 viate the "strong" flavor which these vegetables, 

 acquire when large quantities of stable manure are 

 used the heads should be parboiled in the morning 

 of the day on which they are wanted. They are 

 then put on a hair sieve and placed in the larder. 

 Twenty minutes before they are wanted for the 

 table they are to be reboiled steadily until the 

 strong taste is gone. 



When cauliflowers are preserved in a shed or 

 cellar they often become more or less wilted and 

 strong in flavor, and can then be rendered palatable 

 only by cutting them off from the stalks on the 

 previous day and throwing them into cold, salted 

 water, frequently changing it until they are wanted; 

 in this way the heads become plumped up, and the 

 strong disagreeable smell and taste which they 

 have acquired is in some degree removed ; but even 

 under the most careful treatment they lose their 

 fine, white cauliflower color. 



