Oh Rabe!

Seeing something new and learning what to do with it. In English, is is called broccoli rabe. It's also known as rapini. It tends to be pricier than some of the other greens that are usually served up cooked. I honestly don't do anything different with it when I prepare it. I clip the bottom of the stem, cut it cross-wise (axially or obliquely if you're defining it by its plane), dunk it in boiling water for 30-60 minutes, then stir fry it with the usual accompaniments such as onion, garlic, mushrooms, and sweet peppers.

I saw cooking when I was growing up in the 60s. I had a working mother who had a big budget for food. Meat was considered essential. Vegetables were either canned, frozen, or served up in a tossed salad. Some vegetables could have been fresh or canned (such as corn). Beans were virtually unknown except for the baked variety served up with hot dogs.

I learned about cooking leafy greens NOT from the African Americans in my life but rather from a Jewish girl whose father was a Kosher butcher. She wanted to go on a mostly vegetarian diet and she introduced me to tofu.

"So, what do you do with tofu?" I had asked.

Apparently you throw it into a wok with a little bit of oil and a little bit of soy sauce. To it you add leafy greens, bean sprouts, onions, garlic, peppers, and serve it up with the smallest quantity of rice (white or brown). Starches that were identified from grains seemed to be enemy food. Starches that were from vegetables such as corn, peas, potatoes, carrots, parsnips... not so much.

Tofu has been trashed in recent years. I think it's even been linked to infertility (not that that does have or has ever had any effect on me).

I place it here because I lived with an Italian cook for many years and I was surprised that he didn't know what it was. There were many Italian foods that were not in his repertoire including Arborio rice.