The cauliflower controversies

Today I attended our Annual General Meeting (AGM), which was preceded by a catered lunch. As per typical British catered meals there were numerous mayonnaise based sandwiches on white bread with the crusts removed (hehe) as well as quiches, sausage rolls and cheese pastries. Fine. Then on the middle table there was an assortment of raw vegetables with different dips. Also fine...except it wasn't.

Apparently the raw veg was causing a quite a few of my colleagues a bit of confusion, as they could not comprehend why anyone would serve cauliflower raw. Statements were thrown about, such as:
-who eats cauliflower raw?
-who would think to eat cauliflower raw?
-I'd never eat it raw!
-you're crazy for eating it that way!

All of this was a shock to me. I've always viewed cauliflower as an acceptable raw veg to eat. It's tasty raw - it has a bit of a tangy bite to it! It is fun to dip in ranch-style dressings (but then again the Brits don't have Ranch dressing so this is in itself an anomaly), etc.

Pressing further into this debate I asked my co-worker (granted this next bit is based on one Brit's opinion and therefore I shouldn't be passing it off as representative of the country, but I am), whether she would eat broccoli raw. She concluded that while it can be done, because it's like eating carrots raw, she's never done it. Nor has she ever had cauliflower or broccoli in a salad.

I'm perplexed, and saddened by this news. The poor little broccoli's and cauliflowers of this great nation are not being given their fair dues! They should be enjoyed to their full extent, and not just treated as a side for Sunday roast dinner!

I suppose this is yet another area in which I must campaign for justice to be done. I think it can be done while also crusading that mayonnaise based sandwich dressings aren't exactly orgasmic to the palette.