Broccoli Rapa

[Jason Perlow]

Greetings Faith! Welcome to eGullet!

I love Cime di Rapa (Broccoli Rapa or Broccoli Rabe, or whatever they are calling it in the US now), particularly in pasta dishes. But my wife hates it because of its bitterness. I actually don't mind this bitter taste, but due to her aversion, I only order dishes that feature Broccoli Rapa in restaurants. We never cook it at home.

Are there any techniques to reducing the bitterness of Broccoli Rapa? Also besides the typical Pugliese Orecchiette con Cime di Rapa, are there any other notable dishes that use this vegetable?

And since you're a wine expert as well, what Italian varietals pair best with dishes that feature it?

By the way, I've heard of another Italian bitter vegetable which is harvested as a weed called "Rabaste" (pronounced RAH-BASTE) but I think it might be specific to Sicily or even Italian American culture. Do you know anything about it?

Thanks for your time, and again, welcome to the site.

[Faith Willinger]

Ciao Jason

There are dozens of greens, all members of the brassica family, that go by the name of broccoli, broccoletti, rape, or regional dialect variations of the above. Torquato, my vegetable muse, said they get bitter when the weather is warm, are best after a frost. Get rid of touch stems. Boil leaves in LOTS of salted water, blanch in lots of cold water when they're tender. My favorite dish with broccoli greens is pancotto. Recipe coming in my next book. I'd probably drink a young, lusty red, maybe Aglianico. I've never heard of rabaste but the word seems to derive from "rape", turnip greens.

a presto

Faith

Greetings Faith! Welcome to eGullet!

I love Cime di Rapa (Broccoli Rapa or Broccoli Rabe, or whatever they are calling it in the US now), particularly in pasta dishes. But my wife hates it because of its bitterness. I actually don't mind this bitter taste, but due to her aversion, I only order dishes that feature Broccoli Rapa in restaurants.  We never cook it at home.

Are there any techniques to reducing the bitterness of Broccoli Rapa? Also besides the typical Pugliese Orecchiette con Cime di Rapa, are there any other notable dishes that use this vegetable?

And since you're a wine expert as well, what Italian varietals pair best with dishes that feature it?

By the way, I've heard of another Italian bitter vegetable which is harvested as a weed called "Rabaste" (pronounced RAH-BASTE) but I think it might be specific to Sicily or even Italian American culture. Do you know anything about it?

Thanks for your time, and again, welcome to the site.

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[ludja]

Also, instead of completely removing the stems, you can roughly peel them. This removes some of the bitterness. Also, I think it depends on what you serve with it. If you make a pasta dish with broccoli di rape and sweet Italian sausage, the latter balances the 'bitterness' in a most wonderful way.

Edited November 16, 2004 by ludja (log)