On Food and Cooking

Brussels sprouts come from a cabbage
variant that develops small, numerous heads
along a greatly elongated central stalk. It may
have been developed in northern Europe in the
15th century, but clear evidence for its
existence only dates from the 18th. For many
people who are sensitive to bitter tastes,
brussels sprouts are simply too bitter to eat.
They contain very high levels of
glucosinolates. One of the major types
(sinigrin, also the major mustard precursor)
tastes bitter itself but produces a nonbitter
thiocyanate, while the other (progoitrin) is
nonbitter but produces a bitter thiocyanate. So
whether we cook sprouts rapidly to minimize
the production of thiocyanates, or slowly to
transform all of the glucosinolates, the result
is still bitter. Since these flavor components
are concentrated in the center of the sprout, it
helps to halve the sprouts and cook them in a
large pot of boiling water, which will leach
out both precursors and products.