Food - Drink
The Flavor Difference Between Broccoli And Broccolini
By SYLVIA TOMCZAK
Broccoli is a versatile vegetable that can be enjoyed raw, roasted, grilled, or fried, and can be tossed into salads, casseroles, or soups. It is aesthetically similar to its close relative, broccolini, but there are some key differences between the vegetables, especially when it comes to flavor.
Visually, broccoli has thick woody stems with large flowering heads of tightly clustered florets, while broccolini is defined by its leggy and leafy stalks that prop up smaller florets. Broccolini is the result of crossbreeding conventional broccoli with a Chinese broccoli variety, and has its own vibrant taste.
Per the Food Network, broccoli has an earthiness that borders on bitter, whereas broccolini has a mildly sweet, more mellow taste with herbaceous notes similar to asparagus. Broccoli’s durability makes it a jack-of-all-trades in cuisine, and broccolini is best suited for cooking — roasting or grilling can especially draw out its natural sweetness.