Just found out why I can't get brussels-tops.

[Ricard with an H]

Tonight watching that TV program hosted by Greg whatsisname, they pull the tops of and throw them back to mother earth.

There was a time I wouldn't eat sprouts though I always loves tops. Grrrrrrrrrr.

[Westi]

That's sacrilege! Mine might be tiny but the tops have not been munched at all - still a bit of whitefly but can't taste them!

I wonder if they known there is a potential market for them? Best not let them know or you won't be able to afford them!

Westi

[Primrose]

What a terrible waste,, I actually think that brussel tops are more delicious than the sprouts.but sadly you rarely see them in the shops. And strangely I don't think the taste of the tops, for anybody who dislikes sprouts , is at all similar.
Maybe if we were all forced back into a situation where wartime type food rstioning applied we would rediscover the delights of foods which today are disdained, fed to pigs or just ploughed baxk Into the soil. (But I bet they rot down into lovely compost in the fields where they are dug, and much better than artificial fertilisers so perhaps all is not totally wasted after all!)

[Monika]

I would probably like sprout tops, but ours always seem to go mouldy before I get to them (the sprouts are still perfectly ok).

[PLUMPUDDING]

You've just given me an idea for sprouts for Christmas - if the actual buttons don't grow I can use a few of the tops. They are lovely and tender and don't taste as strong as the sprouts.

[Ricard with an H]

I bet the reason we don't get tops is the cost of picking then off, putting them in a bucket and transporting them over the field. It would all have to be done by hand wouldn't it ?

The sprouts are mechanically harvested.

Did you know that those traditional walking sticks you get at the hospital are made from sprout trunks.

[Tigger]

You can get them in Waitrose or Marks. We love them although neither of us like sprouts.

[Ricard with an H]

Thanks, I'll check out if our M&S has them. You would be surprised what doesn't get this this-far-west.

Have you tried sprouts in the last two years ? The taste isn't like sprouts used to be, much sweeter and less farty though some folks just can't eat brassica without pooping and even a distended tummy.

My lovely lady eats very few greens to the point of describing her eating as an eating-disorder but she'll eat sprouts.

We did a 60 miles round trip at the weekend just to do some veg shopping, no brussels tops but they had cavelo nero but no one bought it because they didn't know what to do with it.

This far west some NHS practises are 15 years behind, trust-me, I know and suffered. But it is lovely to able to drive around with so few vehicles on the road compared to inland.

[Beryl]

Our local farm shop sells them and maybe the farmers markets are worth checking out.

Beryl.

[Ricard with an H]

I must admit to not shopping-around enough at the few local markets we have and I'm sure someone must have 'Tops'. I always loved tops, the perfect ones for me were like blown sprouts and I would cook them with just a knife through the centre then serve them whole.

[oldherbaceous]

While i was at the local farm shop this afternoon, a woman picked a brussel top and asked, "what do you do with these", i let someone else give her the polite answer...