Sprouts - the new summer sensation

08 August 2005 17:53

They are the latest summer sensation in the world of vegetables.

While Brussel sprouts are typically associated with Christmas turkey, stuffing and trimmings, a new generation of chefs and cooks has taken to this healthy and versatile vegetable with enthusiasm, making it as seasonal as salad.

One top grower, TH Clements, which grows hundreds of acres in south Lincolnshire, has started hand-picking sprouts for Tesco - to meet the big increase in summer demand.

Now, the company - Britain's top supermarket retailer - hopes to be selling home-grown sprouts almost 11 months of the year and not just over the winter months.

Pieter van Egmond, of Boston-based TH Clements, said that the newer and earlier varieties have transformed the market for Brussel sprouts. “The extra summer demand is great news for us and having British sprouts ready in the last week of July is a record,” he added.

He began picking sprouts three weeks earlier than last year bringing the prospect of an 11-month home-grown sprout season into reality.

Tesco sprout buyer Andy Carter: “Out of the blue they have been appearing on the menus of top restaurants and they now feature in recipes by some of Britain's best known celebrity chefs.

“In the old days people just used to boil them but these days chefs are far more adventurous and now roast, bread, deep fry and stir fry them.

“Traditionally sprouts were once considered only a winter time food but adventurous chefs have made them a versatile vegetable that is now enjoyed all the year round.” Sales have risen year on year by seven per cent and by more than 56pc in summer, although from a low base.

“Consumers are appreciating the new varieties of sweeter sprouts after years of decline,” said fellow Lincolnshire grower Roger Welberry, who farms within three miles of the Lincolnshire landmark, Boston Stump.

He and other keen growers launched the British Sprout Growers Association in 2001 to give the vegetable a more modern image. He plans to starts picking at the end of the month and will continue for the next six or seven months.

While the summer gap has been filled by imported South African sprouts, Mr Welberry said that a longer season will obviously helped sprout sales. “It will very difficult to get all-year-round supply because there is not a really early variety which doesn't run to seed in the summer or can be picked late in June or July,” he added.

“New ways of serving sprouts have taken us miles away from the old image of over-boiled soggy sprouts which were so much a feature of old-fashioned school dinners,” said Mr Welberry.

North Norfolk grower Stephen Temple, who grows six or eight sprout varieties at Wells, started picking last year in late August but reckons on a slightly later start this year. “The newer varieties are much sweeter and less bitter. I wonder whether it was an old wives' tales that sprouts needed a frost to be tastier. I think that it was probably that they were just naturally more bitter.”

By paying attention to the needs of the crop, it is possible to grow a less bitter sprout. “We know that if you put on nitrogen, it does make them more bitter.”

The new varieties has also helped the image of sprouts, said Mr Temple, who grows 50 acres, enjoys them with a roast dinner and gravy. And, scientists at the Norwich-based Institute of Food Research have highlighted many health benefits - reinforcing parental advice to eat up your greens!

Lincolnshire grower Mr van Egmond says: “They are fantastic with a little garlic and Parmesan cheese” while the king of the sprouts, Mr Welberry suggests: “Stir-fry them if they are small or chop them in half or into quarters. They're also really tasty shredded in a salad.”

Another grower experimenting with extending the end of the sprout season is RK Drysdale based in Berwickshire, Scotland.

Managing director Chris Keenan: “This has been a boom year for sprouts and we've seen demand go up by about 15 per cent.

“Our growing season here in Scotland normally finishes at the end of April but now we're trying to extend it into May.”

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