War of the Cauliflowers

Pictured on the left is our cauliflower steak: It’s been a standard in our soul food kitchen since the beginning. Halved, basted in harissa, seared in a cast iron skillet and cooked briefly in the oven at a high temp. Pictured on the right is the challenger: again a whole cauliflower, but cut into quarters, drenched in harissa, but then roasted in the oven at a lower temp with peppers and onions.

Each has a nice lineage. Our cauliflower steak comes via Gordon Ramsay (who knows where he ripped it off from, but it’s nevertheless great). The challenger comes via Yotam Ottolenghi (who knows where he took it from, but again a strong dish).

Each has its pros: The cauliflower steak is really a meaty “steak” with a great caramelised flavor. The challenger is simply beautiful, with these complementary vegetables weighing in.

Each has its cons: The cauliflower steak is not exactly visually stunning. It’s also quite massive to handle or at least so it seems. The challenger turns out to be a bit soft despite the caramelised exterior, a bit wimpy if you will.

So whither the cauliflower for Etzlenu? Stay tuned, but I’m thinking of borrowing elements from each approach. Which could work well. Or it could be like what they say about the wildebeast: an unfortunate design by committee.