About Run-ups
Brassicas are one crazy, diverse genus of plants that are widely used in the culinary world. Some are known for their greens, such as collards, kale, mustard and cabbage. Some are know for their roots, such as turnips and rutabaga. Some are known for their flowering clusters, such as broccoli, cauliflower and romanesco. Run-ups are the name that Eastern Carolinians use for the flowering stalks of brassicas not so well known for their flowering stalks.
The one run-up that is more common is broccoli raab (or rabe). Broccoli raab is actually a cultivar of the turnip which was selectively bred for the quality of it’s run-ups over the quality of its root or greens. Another run-up that is becoming more common in the US is Chinese broccoli, or gai lan.
In Italian
Broccoli raab also goes by its Italian name, rapini. In Italy, the run-up of kale is known as napini. Collards aren’t so common in Italy, so there is no Italian name for the run-up of a collard plant.
At the Farmers’ Market or in the Garden
After providing a season of leaf harvesting, kale, mustards, turnips, and collards mature and are ready to go to seed. They send up flowering stalks. This gives the farmer and the home gardener one last harvest. Generally, the harvest is made just as the earliest blooms on the stalk begin to open.
In the Kitchen
Run-ups have a form-factor similar to asparagus and can be cooked in very similar ways. The flavor profile will be kind of like asparagus and broccoli blended with the flavors associated with the parent plant. Like asparagus, the base of the stalk may be a bit stringy and should be removed. The way I check is to snip off a small piece and chew it. If it is stringy, then I cut off an inch from the bases and re-test. Continue until you are happy with the quality of stalk. Note, if you are going to chop the stalks, a little stringiness at the base is acceptable if you chop that area to a small dice, such as ¼ inch.
As an example for using run-ups, the pictured bunch of collard run-ups was used to make a Collard Run-up and Green Garlic Frittata.
