Purple cauliflower

I have grown cauliflower in the past.  To be honest they never really impressed me.  They seem to be a lot of work, and the end result is often no better than the ones I can buy from the shops.  I am also not terribly fond of their taste or texture, so I don't eat a lot of them.  All of this means I haven't grown cauliflowers in some time.

Recently my wife went to the market and brought home a purple cauliflower.  I have heard of them, but never actually seen one and never eaten one.  The purple colour of the head was rich and incredible.  I was pretty excited.

Purple cauliflower - I didn't grow this one

I have always been told that the purple colour mostly disappears during cooking.  So I was surprised and glad to see that the colour not only didn't go away, but it intensified somehow and became darker!

I have read hat the purple is due to high concentrations of a powerful antioxidant called anthocyanin and several other flavonoids.  I am also told that they contain significantly more vitamin A than white cauliflower.  I have read in many places that purple cauliflowers are easier to grow, but no one gives any details about that so it may just be wishful thinking rather than fact.

Purple cauliflower - raw and steamed

Purple cauliflower once steamed

We then put the steamed purple cauliflower in the over for a while, and the colour became so dark it was almost black in some places and smurf blue in others. It looked truly remarkable.

The taste was nicer than regular white cauliflower, it was almost a little bit sweet and a bit less cabbage like.  I want to eat more of this.

While I did not grow the cauliflower in the photos above, I think I should grow purple cauliflower in the future.  There are also bright orange cauliflowers, but I haven't seen them other than pictures on the internet yet.

If you are in Australia and grow purple cauliflower, or orange cauliflower, or any other interesting colours and have seeds to share let me know and I may have seeds or something to swap with you.  I have a 'contact form' on the right hand side just under the page views.  If you are viewing with a mobile phone you may need to scroll all the way down and click on 'web view' to be able to access the form.  If you are not quick I will just buy some seeds from somewhere.