Fried Brussels sprouts with garlic and cilantro. Harry Sasson at Harry Sasson, Bogotá
Beautiful and delicious Brussels sprouts, also known as baby Brussels sprouts, have an unfairly bad reputation: we either love them or hate them, and the latter often happens when we try them undercooked. If overcooked, they end up with an unpleasant taste and aroma.
They make a delicious side dish for family lunches or barbecues. The danger is that what isn't eaten, isn't grown. Harry Sasson remembers his father bringing home pinecones, rose apples, currants, and okra, among many other things. Today, these foods are very difficult to find because people have stopped eating them and farmers have stopped growing them.
Harry elaborates on the idea: “Last year the Roca brothers invited me to the launch of their seasonal menu and told me that they decided to buy the house where their mother was born to honor her, and to create the menu based on the dishes she ate as a child. But they discovered that more than half of the ingredients were no longer available.”
“So they set about recovering the seeds and producing them again to recapture the taste memory. I also learned about the work of the Seed Guardians Network in Pasto, where I found containers full of corn, lentils, and beans that I didn't know existed. It would be fantastic if they were recovered, out of pure love for traditions.”
Harry Sasson's professional legacy extends to the restaurant that bears his name, Harry Sasson, and which today concentrates all the activity of a chef-entrepreneur who stands as a benchmark of a very important time for Colombian cuisine, on which normality and closeness are built.
Ingredients for fried Brussels sprouts
- 4 cups of halved Brussels sprouts
- 1 tablespoon of chopped garlic
- 1 tablespoon of chopped cilantro
- Vegetable oil
- Spicy to taste
- Shall
Preparation of fried cabbages
- Fry the Brussels sprouts in vegetable oil at medium-high temperature until golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper.
- Sauté a tablespoon of chopped garlic separately, add the Brussels sprouts and cilantro, and season with salt and pepper.
- If you prefer them boiled, cook them in boiling salted water, drain, and sauté with 3 tablespoons of butter and 3 chopped garlic cloves. Remove when they have browned and season.
