Meet BrusselKale: a new vegetable that fuses Brussels sprouts and Russian red kale.
According to CTV, BrusselKale, also known as the Flower Sprout, is starting to pop up in U.S. grocery stores. The new hybrid is a creation by a United Kingdom vegetable breeder, Tozer Seeds, who originally launched it overseas in January 2010.
The veggies look like loose cabbage heads, with primarily green leaves and purple stems capping at the bottom. BrusselKale carries vitamin B6 and contains double the amount of vitamin C found in traditional Brussels sprouts.
According to the Tozer Seeds website, the leafy green vegetable gets its "fantastic flavor by combining the complex taste of the [Brussels] sprout with the mild, sweet 'nutty' taste of the kale." Bob Whitaker, chief science officer for the U.S.'s Produce Marketing Association, told TODAY.com that it's the "most distinctive" hybrid vegetable since broccolini launched in 1999.
BrusselKale took third place at the 2013 Fruit Logistica Innovations Awards for "outstanding innovation in the international fresh produce sector." The Tozer Seeds website said that BrusselKale was a super food 15 years in the making.
John Mastroianni, general manager of Canada's high-end grocery store Pusateri's, told CTV that customers have been inquiring about the small green and purple sprout since the beginning of March.
BrusselKale is currently available through a limited-release in locations including Pennsylvania and Ohio. The veggie currently goes by a few different brand names in the U.S., including kale sprouts and lollipop kale. Tozer Seeds told TODAY.com that the product will officially launch under one name in the fall.
"We're glad it's getting a lot of buzz, but it's too bad it's coming out before the official launch," said Liza Friedrich, Tozer U.S. spokeswoman.
Pusateri's, a high-end Toronto chain, may become the first Canadian grocer to carry it within the next couple of weeks, CTV News reported.
It can be prepared in a number of ways: you can steam the vegetable for five to six minutes, or cook it in a microwave for two to three minutes. TODAY stated that after preparing the vegetable "it tasted like a less-cabbage-y Brussels sprout, with the slight peppery taste and softer texture of kale-yet more interesting than kale by itself."
