• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

FORAGER | CHEF

Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

  • Home
  • About
  • Wild Mushrooms
    • Mushroom Archive
    • Posts by Species
      • Other Mushrooms
        • Lobster Mushrooms
        • Huitlacoche
        • Shrimp of the Woods
        • Truffles
        • Morels
        • Shaggy Mane
        • Hericium
        • Puffball
      • Polypores
        • Hen of the Woods
        • Dryad Saddle
        • Chicken of The Woods
        • Cauliflowers
        • Ischnoderma
        • Beefsteak
      • Chanterelles
        • Black Trumpet
        • Hedgehogs
        • Yellowfeet
      • Gilled
        • Matsutake
        • Honey Mushrooms
        • Russula / Lactarius
          • Candy Caps
          • Saffron Milkcap
          • Indigo Milkcap
      • Boletes
        • Porcini
        • Leccinum
        • Slippery Jacks
    • Recipes
      • Fresh
      • Dried
      • Preserves
    • The Basics
  • Plants
    • Plant Archive
    • Leafy Green Recipes
      • Leafy Green Plant Varieties
    • Ramps and Onions
    • Wild Herbs and Spices
      • Spruce and Conifers
      • Pollen
      • Prickly Ash
      • Bergamot / Wild Oregano
      • Spicebush
      • Golpar / Cow Parsnip
      • Wild Carraway
    • Wild Fruit
      • Wild Plums
      • Highbush Cranberry
      • Wild Grapes
      • Rowanberries
      • Wild Cherries
      • Aronia
      • Nannyberry
      • Wild Blueberries
    • From The Garden
    • Nuts, Roots, Tubers and Grains
    • Stalks and Shoots
  • Meat
    • Four-Legged Animals
      • Venison
      • Small Game
    • Poultry
    • Fish/Seafood
    • Offal and Organ Meat Recipes
    • Charcuterie
  • Recipes
    • Pickles, Preserves, Etc
    • Fermentation
    • Condiments
    • Appetizers
    • Soup
    • Salad
    • Side Dishes
    • Entrees
    • Baking
    • Sweets
  • Video
    • Field, Forest Feast (The Wild Harvest)
    • Foraging Videos
    • Lamb and Goat Series
    • YouTube Tutorials
  • Press
    • Podcasts / Interviews
  • Work
    • Public Speaking
    • Charity and Private Dinners
    • Forays / Classes / Demos

Kale Sprouts

Kale Sprouts or KalettesImagine for a moment the wonder that could be if Brussels sprouts and kale had little babies. Now, contain your excitement, because it is a thing, and has been for a number of years. They also go by the name of kalettes, and they’ve been popping up all over the place, from conventional grocery stores to Trader Joe’s.

There’s a little misunderstanding about them, and their true origin. For marketing purposes (see my opening paragraph 🙂 they’re usually referred to as a “cross between Brussels sprouts and kale, a misleading phrase that I’ve seen used by small, organic farmers and conventional broadline purveyors alike.

Just like everyone else, hearing that they’re a cross between two plants made me assume that in order to get some or have a farmer grow some for me at a restaurant, it might require some funky planting techniques, manipulation, or some other adjustment to a farm’s processes.

With the exception of a couple herbs, I haven’t had very good success getting farmers to grow interesting things and by the same token, I know many farmers will complain that they haven’t had success getting chef’s to buy things they’ve grown especially for them. I think a form of growing contract might be a nice mutually beneficial arrangement, but that’s outside the scope of this post.

Back to the wee kale sprouts. This fall I was walking through the gardens at the farm in Menomonie, getting ready to pick a few Brussels sprouts. As I picked I wandered through the different gardens, looking at the different plantings of Brussels, cabbage and kale. When I went up to the kale, I noticed at the base of the stalks where the greens had been harvested in the past few weeks there was new growth. I started to feel the excitement that comes with a paradigm shift, the sort of discovery that makes something old seem completely new. Here’s what I understood as a new truth:

Kale sprouts are not a futuristic cross between Brussels sprouts and kale. The only similarity/connection between Brussels and kale sprouts is in the stage when they’re harvested.

Kale Sprouts or Kalettes

Conversely, as kale sprouts are kale harvested young, you can see new possibilities for working with Brussels sprouts by seeing them mature. The leaves become larger, the small heads on the stalks loosen and grow in size, lending themselves to cooking methods you might use with cabbages or other leafy greens, like kale. Maybe I can take some shots of that next year.

As far as cooking the kale sprouts, from a culinary perspective, you have 2 different vegetables in one here, a firm stem that requires extended cooking, and fluffy, tender leaves that cook very fast. There are a few recipes online that suggest roasting your little kale sprouts to crunchy nubbins, but I find roasting too aggressive for delicate sprouts like this, personal opinion.

Kale Sprout with the stem scored_-2

Scoring the stems as with Brussels sprouts helps ensure even cooking.

Instead, I use a two step process you could call the pan-steam, it’s really simple, all you need is a pan with a lid. From there, you just put them on a plate and eat them as part of a dish, I don’t usually do anything else to them at all, I think they’re just perfect the way nature made them. They do make fun pickles though.

Pork Secreto with Kale Sprouts and Tkemali

These are great alongside a piece of meat. Pictured is a cut of pork near the shoulder called secreto, and a little wild plum tkemali.

Pan Steamed Kale Sprouts or Kalettes 

Ingredients 

  • 2 handfuls of kale sprouts
  • Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
  • A tablespoon of butter or oil
  • 1/4 cup stock, wine, or water

Method

Score the stems of the kale sprouts with an X to help them cook evenly, and trim any excess large leaves if you want. Warm the butter or oil in the pan on medium heat, then add the kale sprouts and season lightly. Toss the kale sprouts to coat with the fat, and cook for 2 minutes, watching closely to prevent the leaves from browning. Add the liquid to the pan and cover, then cook for 3-4 minutes more on medium heat, or until the sprouts are just tender. Double check the seasoning and adjust as needed, then serve immediately. If the kalettes seem a bit wet, blot them quickly on a towel before plating, or plate with a slotted spoon.

Related

Previous Post: « Fungorum: an Old Book of Mushrooms
Next Post: Raising a Guinea Pig for the Table »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sam Schaperow

    December 9, 2017 at 8:05 pm

    Cute little things.
    another variation of the same species of plant.

    Reply
  2. Sam Schaperow

    December 9, 2017 at 8:06 pm

    Cute little things.
    another variation of the same species of plant that is both kale and brussels sprouts.

    Reply
  3. Alvaro

    December 13, 2017 at 4:02 am

    There is a lot of misinformation out there. They are just a brand name for kale sprouts. – However – I think they really are a hybrid plant, not your average kale. The official page explains it briefly. I’ve been reading in different sources that kale and kalettes sprout at different times of the year, so I guess it really is a new variety. It’s all very confusing.

    Reply
    • Ron Fan

      December 13, 2017 at 11:36 am

      If they are crossing brussel sprouts with kale, I believe they are just creating a new cultivar since the plants are in the same species. Kind of how a mutt isn’t really a hybrid animal but a pluot would be a hybrid fruit. Regardless, this is the first I’ve heard of kalettes and am excited to look for them. Thanks!

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        December 13, 2017 at 12:22 pm

        Thanks Ron, from what I see in our gardens at the farm in Menomonie WI, it seems to me that all that’s being done is harvesting them at an earlier date, since the kale sprouts I was picking and are pictured here are *exactly* the same as varieties I’ve purchased wholesale through 2-3 local purveyors. Either way, they’re great. Keep an eye out for them.

        Reply
        • Heidi Arena

          December 14, 2017 at 12:47 pm

          The Kalettes that I have seen growing look more like brussel sprouts – a big thick stalk with tons of little kalette sprouts coming out all over it. And you can probably harvest a lot more “kalettes” all at once from one plant. Perhaps if a kale stalk was old enough and had been harvested enough, it would sprout lots of new growth all over it, and would look similar. It would be an interesting experiment to try to prune a kale plant in such a way that it would produce a lot of sprouts. I might try that next year. I agree that both kalettes and kale sprouts taste great. And there might be more than one way to arrive at the same good tasting destination.

          Thanks for highlighting a form of the kale plant not typically eaten. So many great tasting parts of plants are neglected. Kale and collard buds look like little broccoli heads, but with a kale or collard flavor. Rattail radish pods are simply radish seed pods that have been bred for length and tenderness. Bolted lettuce stalks are extremely succulent and usually not very bitter when peeled. Yet everyone throws out their lettuce once it bolts.

          Reply
  4. mart

    November 12, 2020 at 1:11 am

    While kale plants make something similar they seem to be a different variety https://www.johnnyseeds.com/vegetables/kalettes/

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

James Beard Award Winner

beard award

Subscribe (It’s free)

Forager Chef

Forager Chef

Footer

Instagram

foragerchef

FORAGER | CHEF®
🍄🌱🍖
Author: The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora
James Beard Award ‘22
Host: Field Forest Feast 👇
streaming on @tastemade

Alan Bergo
HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mul HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mulberry trees and both got a bunch of fruit knocked down by the storms and wind. 

If anyone in West WI or around the Twin Cities knows of some trees, (ideally on private property but beggars can’t be choosers) that I could climb and shake with a tarp underneath, shoot me a DM and let’s pick some! 🤙😄

TIA

#throwadogabone #mansquirrel #beattlefruit #mulberries #shakintrees
Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of t Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of the more interesting things I’ve eaten. 

These are an ancient wild food traditionally harvested in Southern Italy, especially in Puglia and the Salentine Peninsula, as well as Greece and Crete. I’ve seen at least 6-7 different names for them. 

A couple different species are eaten, but Leopoldia comosa is probably the one I see mentioned the most. They also grow wild in North America. 

The bulbs are toxic raw, but edible after an extended boil. Traditionally they’re preserved in vinegar and oil, pickled, or preserves in other methods using acid and served as antipasti. (Two versions in pic 3). 

They’re one of the most heavily documented traditional wild foods I’ve seen. There’s a few shots of book excerpts here.

The Oxford companion to Italian Food says you can eat them raw-don’t do that. 

Even after pickling, the bulbs are aggressively extremely bitter. Definitely an acquired taste, but one that’s grown on me. 

#traditionalfoods #vampagioli #lampascione #cucinapovera #lampascioni #leopoldiacomosa #foraging
Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke sallet and didn’t do too well (I’m at the tip of its range). I did see some feral horseradish though which I don’t see very often. 

Just like wild parsnip, this is the exact same plant you see in the store and garden-just escaped. 

During the growing season the leaves can be good when young. 

They have an aggressive taste bitter enough to scare your loved ones. Excellent in a blend of greens cooked until extra soft, preferably with bacon or similar. 

For reference, you don’t harvest the root while the plant is growing as they’ll be soft and unappealing-do that in the spring or fall. This is essentially the same as when people tell you to harvest in months that have an R in them. 

#amoraciarusticana #foraging #horseradishleaves #horseradish #bittergreens
In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo del carrubo” (carob tree mushroom) as it’s one of the common tree hosts there. 

My favorite, and really the only traditional recipe I’ve found for them so far is simmered in a spicy tomato sauce with hot chile and capers, served with grilled bread. 

Here I add herbs too: fresh leaves of bee balm that are perfect for harvesting right now and have a flavor similar to oregano and thyme. 

Makes a really good side dish or app, especially if you shower it with a handful of pecorino before scooping it up with the bread. 

#chickenofthewoods #fungodelcarrubo #allthemushroomtags #traditionalfoods #beebalm
First of the year 😁. White-pored chicken of t First of the year 😁. 

White-pored chicken of the woods (Laetiporus cincinnatus) are my favorite chicken. 

Superior bug resistance, slightly better flavor + texture. They also stay tender longer compared to their more common yellow-pored cousins. Not a single bug in this guy. 

#treemeat #ifoundfood #foraging #laetiporuscincinnatus #chickenofthewoods
TBT brisket face 💦. Staff meal with @jesseroes TBT brisket face 💦. Staff meal with 
@jesseroesler and crew @campwandawega
📸 @misterberndt 

#staffmeal #brisket #meatsweats #naptime
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Privacy

  • Privacy Policy

Affiliate Disclosure

 I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website. Your purchases help keep this website free and help with the many costs involved with this site as it has continued to grow over the years. 

Copyright © 2022 ·