To not understand the UK's obsession with sprouts?

[tawitttawoo]

They're vile! Yet the British population seem enamoured with the bloody things. No matter how they're prepared they still taste like farts. We were a no sprouts household when I was younger. DH doesn't like them either.

Every year these we go to another home for Christmas dinner the little bastards are passed around the table, and I just pass them right on by me to the next person. And every year someone calls me out saying "ooh you've not got any sprouts on your plate". Or they'll come over and insist I take some despite me politely declining several times.

We've spent Christmas overseas with relatives several times and sprouts were never served

It's not an obsession, it's just a tradition for many people to have them at Christmas as they are in season, as are root vegetables. I like them, some people don't.

All cultures who celebrate Christmas have their own idiosyncrasies. Carp??? The preponderance of cloves, which taste like a visit to the dentist. The Christmas spider, The Grinch, Krampus, The Yule Cat, The Yule Goat...suddenly eating a seasonal brassica seems rather tame.

They are by far and away my favourite vegetable. I’d be happy to have them with every meal. How anyone could prefer something like carrots to sprouts is beyond me.

Our whole household loves sprouts.
And broccoli, kale, cabbage, spinach, and cauliflower.
Fresh though, not frozen.
All are yuck when frozen.

Theres no way anybody these days is eating the same ones as in childhood - they've been actively changed - https://www.bhg.com/news/brussels-sprouts-less-bitter/

@KylieJennersMakeUpSponge @Oakbeam @Mrmojorising71 @Newestname002

I didn't grow up in the UK and I too am baffled by sprouts and the desire to try to wreck a perfectly good Christmas dinner by adding them to the plate.

I've eaten them cooked in a variety of ways and they all taste grim. If someone serves them to me I'll eat them to be polite, obviously, but I wouldn't buy them

Last year my local Sainsburys overstocked them, and by Boxing Day they were on offer for 30p for a long stalk of the things, then reduced to 13p...and still they sat on the shelves -couldn't even give them away, so clearly a lot of people hate them!

I used to hate sprouts but they have definitely got more palatable since the 90s! I’m sure I read that they grow them to taste better now.

Incidentally, I feel the same way as you do about sprouts, about egg mayonnaise! Every sod seems to like that on a sandwich! The smell is very offensive and makes me gag.

Love you hen and not just for Christmas.

Tasty goodness.

DH refers to them as the Devil's Testicles (and he actually likes then)

I love them! Cook them just enough so they have a bit of crunch and sprinkle with salt. I could eat 10 on my plate.

Halved, boiled for 1 minute, then gently fried in a pan with lardons and chestnuts. So good.

Well, that's just weird. Why on earth would someone eat a vegetable they hate just because it's Christmas? I'm in NZ, and because sprouts aren't traditional Christmas fare here we just eat them because we like them.

They really don't - it just slightly masks tbe taste enough to prevent gagging

Apparently there are 110 varieties of sprouts!!

They're seasonal.

I love strawberries, but I only buy them in the summer because the under-ripe ones flown in from places like South Africa in the winter are expensive, disappointing and a poor use of air miles.

Sprouts are a bit of a joke feature of a Christmas dinner because the taste is quite love/hate, and it feeds into the "eat your greens" type narrative.

My son is a sprout lover since his first Christmas. I don't buy them year round because it's a bit off a faff for a food that one person loves, one person will tolerate in small amounts, one dislikes and one hates within the household.

If you don't understand that's fine. If people insist after you've said no then that is very odd and I'd say "why are you ignoring me, I said no" and get increasingly blunter

They are disgusting. I've tried them roasted or sautéed in posh restaurants too before and no no no no. Never.

I eat anything except spouts and offal so I'm not even a fussy eater. Awful things. I can't even bring myself to eat novelty chocolate sprouts.

It is a seasonal vegetable that was one of the only things still standing during the winter, which gets sweeter as it frosts.

Similar to parsnips, which need to be dug up and stored otherwise they can't be harvested when the ground is frozen.

Hence being on plates over the winter period.

I bloody love them and when I'm not growing them and have to buy them in, I peel and cook the whole lot and freeze them for future roasties.

We have them all the time. Standard side vegetable on a roast or roasted with broccoli and harissa. Love them. I'll probably have 10 tomorrow.

We eat them at least twice a week,frozen ones are delicious. I need to eat a lot of green leafy veg so it's another way of doing so.

I eat them a couple of times a week when they're available, love them just steamed with salt and pepper.
I lived in the Middle East as a child and they weren't available there. It was the one veg people used to ask those going on holiday to the uk to bring back!

Yep there was a sprout hating thread a couple days ago. It seems the only people ‘obsessed’ with sprouts are those that dislike them 😂

Not this again! It's not an obsession. They are just a traditional part of Christmas dinner and are a 'marmite' vegetable that some like and some don't. You don't like them. Others do. What is there to understand?

I like sprouts but not enough to have them on Xmas - but this applies to the whole traditional Xmas Day dinner tbh. I'd eat it all if I was a guest but DP and I are doing a slow-cooked ragu this year, which I much prefer.

I love them, we make a gorgeous Leon recipe with pasta, creme fraiche and Italian sausage. Sometimes at Christmas we have kalettes instead of sprouts, but I haven't found any this year.
I can well understand people hating them, I feel the same way about mushrooms. And I can't understand anyone forcing their guests to eat a food they don't like, just why would anyone do that, it's bizarre.

Par-boil and stir fry with garlic and pine nuts, they are amazing, it's like magic, the flavour they take on.

...plus it's a bit of fun. What can you do with the sprouts, it's a challenge.