BIZARRE: Broccolini how fun time between vegetables spawned a side dish star - What They Never Told You

Broccolini is not Italian. It is not a baby broccoli, or a sweeter broccoli rabe. It is a cross between regular old broccoli and gai lan, or Chinese kale, and it is only 31 years old. From high-stakes state dinners to weeknight sheet pan meals, broccolini seems to be everywhere. What does our love of this arriviste vegetable say about us?

This patented frankenvegetable was born in a greenhouse at the Japanese seed company Sakata Inc. “All of the breeders, using classical breeding techniques, are allowed a little bit of playtime – or let’s say ‘fun time’ – to experiment and try to create something new,” Dave Samuels, brand director for Sakata’s Europe division, told the Guardian. “And one of our broccoli breeders in his playtime created this long-stemmed broccoli that we all know and love.”