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

I love sprouts. Steamed & served with bacon, or pan fried with other veg. Sweet & delicious.

They aren't great if boiled to mush, but that's true of most veg.

Sprouts are just for garnish.

It's just a tradition isn't it? People only eat them Christmas day so they like to have them so everyone can wang on about whether they love or hate them. I actually like them. But my husband doesn't so we won't be having any. But if we were hosting I'd probably insist we did.

I love them and eat them all year round, but guess I have the right genes - I agree (obviously!) that people who don't like them should be entirely free to pass and have something they do find delicious.

@pinklepea 'Still bet the lovers of Brussel sprouts barely eat them through the year. Somehow they are pushed as you must eat at Christmas but actually why is this a tradition!!!'

No, we've been buying them from Tesco since October. We make potato cakes with sprouts and bacon. A sort of uprated bubble & squeak. They're lovely..

I love sprouts and we often have them
With our Sunday roast!

Somehow they are pushed as you must eat at Christmas but actually why is this a tradition!!!

There aren't always good reasons for traditions <shrug>. I'm no gardener, but I'm pretty sure sprouts' growing season means they are ready at this time of year.

Oh, that recipe sounds lovely! We usually roast them in the oven.
Boiled vegetables are always awful in my opinion.

They’re fairly popular here in Sweden as they’ll easily grow here, well as popular as a vegetable can be in Sweden. I don’t like brussels if they’re boiled, microwaved/steamed. I only like them if they are oven roasted or pan fried.

I don't get it either.

When my brother was about 6 my mum came home and happily told him she'd got him a surprise present. His automatic response was 'IS IT SPROUTS???'

His sad little face when he was told that no, it was a lego set was hilarious.

I'm fairly indifferent to be honest but I don't get the love 😅

They certainly aren’t the same sprouts that I remember from childhood.

Sprouts were served up with monotonous regularity with my take it or leave it school lunches. However, they were boiled to a tasteless grey mush.

The UK isn't obsessed with sprouts. They're joking about with you. Noone actually cares whether you like sprouts or not. It's a bit odd to have a specifically sprout free household.
British people are similarly not obsessed with parsnips or turkey, but it is traditional part of Xmas dinner

It's genetic. Some people taste a compound in them that is bitter. There's also the fact that the varieties grown now are far nicer than 20+ years ago and traditionally most people don't boil their vegetables to death anymore, so people who hated them may well now like them but refuse to try.

Love them

Agree this is how i love them

I don't understand the UK's obsession with plain boiled vegetables with only salt and butter for seasoning, but each to their own.

I really like sprouts, so does whole family - we have them probably every 10 days over the winter - steamed is better then boiled, shredded and stir fried is good, roasted is excellent too.

Same here. They taste much nicer roasted or fried and with different seasoning. Sprouts are horrible whatever way they are cooked though.

Interesting.

When I had them boiled, they tasted bitter (which I didn’t mind but disliked the texture) but when I steamed them they tasted sweet. I thought it was preparation.

Wondering if it’s a similar gene to coriander where it has a lemony taste to some like me and a soap taste to others.

Is this supposed to be some weird anti-stealth boast?

Edit: Just saw the link above! Brussel Sprouts! I've never seen them referred to without the Brussel part. I sound like an idiot American. But we distinguish those apart from the other kind of sprouts, the little tender shoots from various seeds or legumes that are eaten raw. Now that I understand I agree with most others. They are nasty if cooked from frozen or boiled. I only eat them roasted. It's like night and day on taste and texture.

Since the topic is raised, can someone please post a photo of sprouts? I'm in the US and I've seen sprouts mentioned lots of times but the way y'all describe them sounds nothing like the sprouts I know about. For example I've never known sprouts to be cooked, only raw on a salad usually, and most people don't eat them at all. I genuinely would love to know!

When boiled to death they taste like farts. When cooked for less time they taste completely different and a bit on the horseradishy side.
I blanch them then fry them up, bit of chestnut and pancetta and it's a gooorgeous side dish.

@flowerchild2000 , we're talking about Brussels Sprouts (like little cabbages) not alfalfa sprouts or bean sprouts

Thank you and please don't judge me lol

They’re brussels (brassica oleracea), rather than sprouts as in small shoots of cale etc that is commonly served in salad. When I live in the USA, sprouts in the area I was in always referred to new/baby leaves of tender plants like kale etc.