Lockdown has empowered foodies to bore us with their hobby and talk down to us like we’re kids.
So I wasn’t surprised when one radio presenter patronised a guest when he told him he had cooked broccoli for the first time.
Before then confessing that he thought you just microwaved it.
All of which gives me an excuse to praise the late US President George HW Bush, Dubya’s Dad.
By George
George Herbert Walker (the W is a doff to his in-law who gave his name to golf’s Walker Cup) was a World War II hero.
Before, as Commander-in-Chief, leading his country to victory against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in the Gulf War.
Fort Lauderdale and Florida loves George
But it was George’s Mom who was boss in the Bush home.
Aww, Mom!
As he revealed in an early press conference after he moved into the White House.
When a reporter asked him a ‘soft’ question.
About what he might want to ban now he had become the most powerful man on Earth.
And he shot back… ‘Broccoli’.
Did Dubya dislike broccoli too?
The President went onto explain that his Mom had insisted that the children ate broccoli when they were children.
And that had led to his lifetime’s distaste for the vegetable.
No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the broccoli growers were up in arms.
Broccoli goes to Washington
And marching down Pennsylvania Avenue in protest.
Only in America.
Now George W Bush was considered the Grand Old Statesman of the US.
And I saw first-hand in what high regard he was held.
When his passing corresponded with my visit to Fort Lauderdale https://www.visitflorida.com/en-us.html and Fort Lauderdale and Miami – a tale of two sittings.
Florida’s adopted sons
In Florida, the state where his son Jeb was Governor and George W. got over the line in the 2000 election.
I don’t know where The Donald sits on broccoli as he works his way through the COVID-19 crisis in Washington.
My favourite American city Easy DC and www.washington.org
Well, who else would you want in charge?Saving the world
But broccoli growers naturally are keen to promote their little tree-looking cabbagey foods as health-enhancing.
And I’m thankful here to www.healthline.com for their tips.
Broccoli are, they tell us, full of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants.
And can help in the fight of everything from Cancer to heart disease, can slow the ageing process and even stop constipation.
All of which falls on deaf ears for children though, be they a pauper or a future President.
And how best to make broccoli. Check out www.thekitchn.com for ways to blanch, boil, steam, sautée or steam.
