Broccoli Odor

[Pastachef]

Can anyone tell me a bit about the odor of broccoli? Most of the time the fresh broccoli I buy has no odor at all. A couple of times the fresh broccoli looked great, but smelled so terribly that we had to send it back to the distributor or throw it out. Is it really bad broccoli? Nothing can kill that odor!

[Nicko]

I am not totally sure about this but my first question is is the brocoli in a very tight container or plastic bag when it arrives? Typically are was in a wooden crate packed with crushed ice. Also what is the temperature (winter time, summertime)? I believe that all fruits and vegetables give off ethalyne gas which promotes maturity and ripening (the reason people suggest putting bannanas in a paper bag to ripen them). If they brocolli has been sealed for a lengthy time it is possible that there is a build up of this gas and it is ripening them and they are beging to turn.

Just a hypothesis any other ideas? I will check Harold McGees On Food and Cooking and see what he says.

[Pastachef]

For trying to help me figure this one out. The first time I received the reeking broccoli was late August of this year. It had a good color, a good feel, no yellowing or slippery spots. It arrived in a plastic bag with many air holes. I didn't send it back because I thought it may have just needed washing. That didn't work. I put it in two plastic bags with NO holes, and tied them shut. It still reeked, so I put it, still in bags, in a plastic container with a tight fitting lid, in the refrigerator. I intended to send it back with our next vegetable delivery, but the smell was so bad that we had to open all the windows and use air freshener. It was opening day at the sorority, so the house director was livid! On her orders I had to throw it out. All the containers I had stored it in couldn't stop the smell. The next time this happened was on Thanksgiving day at home. My son's girlfriend brought over a beautiful vegetable platter with dip, but the broccoli was so wretched smelling that even the guys complained. I thought about soaking it in lemon juice, but with a house full of hungry people, there was no time for experimentation. It ended up in the trash too. So, seasons wise, that makes summer and fall. I am more curious than ever about broccoli.