UK Parents Resort to Stealth Methods to Ensure Brussels Aren’t Spr-OUT This Christmas!

Richard Powell22 December 2014, 08:04 UTC 2 min read

Flora research out today found a whopping eight in 10 (84%) parents include Brussels in their family’s Christmas dinner and to make them more popular, they’re game for disguising the traditional vegetables to help them pass the taste test.

Eight in 10 (84%) parents will serve their families Brussels this Christmas day with 78% favouring ‘disguise’ dishes to help them pass the family taste test

Brussel Sprouts with Orange & Ginger Glaze

Servings: 4-6
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

25g (1 oz) Flora Buttery
2.5cm (1 inch) piece root ginger, grated
500g (1lb 2 oz) Brussels sprouts, trimmed
Zest and juice of 1 orange
1 tablespoon Touch of Taste, Vegetable
200ml (7fl oz) water
Pinch sugar

1. Melt the Flora Buttery in a saucepan and sauté the ginger and sprouts for 2-3 minutes.

2. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes until the sprouts are just cooked and the liquid has reduced to a few tablespoons. Mix well to glaze and serve immediately.

* Please note that the photograph included within this article is a stock image and not that of the above Orange & Ginger Glaze recipe

Flora research out today found a whopping eight in 10 (84%) parents include Brussels in their family’s Christmas dinner and to make them more popular, 78% are game for disguising the traditional vegetables to help them pass the taste test.

Stealth sprout disguising sees half of parents (47%) adding meat, a third (34%) smothering them in a creamy cheese sauce, while a quarter (23%) said creating Jamaican-inspired jerk sprouts by cooking with herbs and spices sounded good. For one in 10, some serious stealth moves would be required – blending the sprouts into soup!

Those banishing Brussels at Christmas blamed not liking their taste (59%), or trying to please other family members that don’t like them (24%).

Flora’s Technical Chef, Sue Batty, comments: “Only make a cross or cut in large sprouts to aid cooking, doing the same on small sprouts causes overcooking and a bad taste.”

Uniting parents up and down and country was the universal love of carrots (56%), peas (45%) and broccoli (39%) and a dislike for courgette (49%) Mange tout (37%) and sprouts (36%).

Sue Batty concluded: “Be brave with ingredients, Christmassy flavours offer a nice twist, I’ll be treating my family to Brussels sprouts with a delicious orange and ginger glaze.”

For tasty and inspirational recipes this Christmas head to Flora.com

Research was conducted in November 2014 among 1,000 parents.