The Vegetable Garden of the Stavros Niarchos Park offers a breath of “green” amidst the surrounding cityscape. This month, it has already been planted with autumn crops, seasonal and nutritious vegetables that represent our domestic food culture. Besides, food and its raw materials have always been a powerful symbol of our history and our social and cultural identity.
In November, we get to know the genus Brassica (/ˈbræsɪkə/) — and the plants of the Brassicaceae family, which includes broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, mustard greens, and kale. Its crops are collectively referred to as cole crops — derived from the Latin word caulis, indicating the stem or stalk of a plant — or cruciferous vegetables. These crops love the sun as well as the cool (but not cold) weather.
As we walk through the Vegetable Garden of the SNFCC, we can observe the growth of the following crops:
Broccoli | Brassica oleracea var. italica
The main edible part of both broccoli and cauliflower are the flowering heads, actually consisting of undeveloped flower buds.
Broccoli is literally a superfood. A cup of cooked broccoli offers 5 grams of vegetable fiber, almost 4 grams of protein, plus a range of vitamins A and C, all in just 55 calories. It also contains folic acid, iron, potassium, and omega-3 fatty acids.
Cauliflower | Brassica oleracea var. Botrytis
Writer Mark Twain once described it as “a cabbage with a college education.”
A cousin of broccoli and a descendant of wild cabbage (which has existed for more than 2,000 years), cauliflower is also a superfood as it is low in fat, with a high content of vegetable fibers, folic acid, vitamin C and vitamin B6.
The name of this vegetable derives from the Latin words caulis (stem) and floris (flower). Cauliflower is not necessarily white; there are many colorful varieties, such as purple, yellow and orange cauliflower, which are even more nutritious than the white one.
Cabbages |Brassica oleracea
Originating in Eurasia, they were widely cultivated in ancient Greece. Currently, their consumption is also closely linked with the African American Community.
Kale | Brassica oleracea var. sabellica
Kale is the coolest cabbage. Although it traces its roots back in the Greek and Roman cultures, it remained in the background for many years. Now, its time has come to shine on the gastronomic map, and it often appear on menus of Michelin Guide restaurants.
The curly kale is the most common variety of this species, but there are several other varieties, differing in the length of the stem and in leaf type and color.
Kale is, of course, yet another superfood, containing 680% of the vitamin K RDA and 200% of the vitamin A RDA, in addition to anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and detoxing properties.
