High on a hill.

I've found I have a problem with one particular vegetable, and that's Broccoli.

I'll be the first to admit I’m not that successful at growing it. The pigeons devastate the young plants, then aphids get them later and even if they survive to maturity, they usually bolt.

But that's not the problem.

Broccoli also plays havoc with my digestive system, and produces enough wind to be a worry for those concerned about levels of methane getting into the atmosphere.

But that's not the problem either.

It raised its head the other day when Mrs Netall made a batch of broccoli soup, something  she does regularly, and which is usually delicious. Unfortunately on this one occasion it tasted really really strongly of broccoli, so much so that I thought the broccoli was off.

Now as all husband know, criticising their wife’s cooking is not for the faint hearted, but sometimes it has to be done and the best way is to use a little subtlety. I didn’t want to be blunt and say it was too strong, as she would have taken this as a slight on her culinary abilities and used me as target practice for her knife throwing skills.

So what could I say, and how could I say it ?

If the soup had been made of carrot, onion, leek, or any other of the thousands of vegetables that soup can be made of, there would have been absolutely no problem at all.

I could have simply said, “This soups delicious dear, but don’t you think it’s a little more carrot-y, (onion-y, leek-y) than  usual”, and hoped for the best.

But there lay my problem you see, because you just can’t do that with broccoli can you ! Have a go at saying broccoli-y, it sounds like you’re trying to bloody yodel!

So, all together now..."High on a hill there's a lonely goatherd...Broccoli-y, Broccoli-y, Broccoli-y-oo"

In the end I just kept quiet and ate it.

P.S.
As an after thought I think I'd better avoid celery and khorabi soup as well.