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FORAGER | CHEF

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

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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

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FORAGER | CHEF®
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Author: The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora
James Beard Award ‘22
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Alan Bergo
Sometimes I forget we have good traditions in Amer Sometimes I forget we have good traditions in America too. Case in point: bourbon. 

TIL about American traditions, and the role of the white oak in aging. Tasted some of that sweet nectar too. 

The rye finished in rum barrels smells like pure maple syrup 🤤. @angelsenvy

#bourbon #whiskeyrow #angelsenvy #whiteoak
Summer veg PSA: One of the edible plant parts I co Summer veg PSA: One of the edible plant parts I cover in my book you might not know are squash and pumpkin shoots. 

Tender and delicious, these are eaten around the world. The US is still coming around, but I see them occasionally at farmers markets. 

I like to give them a dip in boiling water to wilt them quick, then toss them with some fat or stir-fry them quick. The little curly-cues make them look like fairy tale veggies to me. 

#squashshoots #cucurbitaceae #eatmoreplants #kehoecarboncookware
Shaved cattail rhizomes with smoked trout, chickwe Shaved cattail rhizomes with smoked trout, chickweed, lemon, hickory nut oil and tarragon from the @wild.fed shoot. 

I spent a couple days trying to cook the rhizomes, and it works, but raw is my favorite prep. 

I add some smoked trout both for the salty pop and because it’s fun to mix aquatic edibles. Runner bean flowers for a splash of color. 

#cattails #foraging #chickweed #runnerbeans #saladsofinstagram
Long, fun day snatching crayfish out of the water Long, fun day snatching crayfish out of the water by hand with Sam Thayer and @danielvitalis for @wild.fed 

Daniel and Sam were the apex predators, but I got a few. 

Without a net catching crayfish by hand is definitely a wax-on wax-off sort of skill. Clears your mind. 

They’re going into gumbo with porcini, sausage and milkweed pods today. 

#crayfish #ninjareflexes #waxonwaxoff #normalthings #onset🎥🎬
Working all day on preps for cattail lateral rhizo Working all day on preps for cattail lateral rhizomes and blueberries for this weeks shoot with @wildfed 

Been a few years since I worked with these. Thankfully Sam Thayer dropped a couple off for me to work with. They’re tender, crisp and delicious. 

Sam mentioned their mild flavor and texture could be because they don’t have to worry about predators eating them, since they grow in the muck of cattail marshes. 

I think they could use a pet name. Pond tusk? Swamp spears? Help me out here. 😂

Nature makes the coolest things. 

#itcamefromthepond #cattail #rhizomes #foraging #typhalatifolia
I liked the staff meal I made for Mondays shoot so I liked the staff meal I made for Mondays shoot so much we filmed it instead of the original dish I’d planned. 

Cooked natural wild rice (not the black shiny stuff) is great hot, cold, sweet or savory. It’s a perfect, filling lunch for a long day of berry picking. 

I make them with whatever I have on hand. Mushrooms will fade into the background a little here, so I use a bunch of them, along with lots of herbs and hickory nut oil + dill flowers. 

I’m eating the leftovers today back up in the barrens (hopefully) getting some more bluebs for another shoot this week w @wild.fed 

#wilwilwice #wildrice #chanterelles #campfood #castironcooking
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