What does calabrese mean?
Calabrese is the name given to the familiar large-headed green broccoli found on supermarket shelves, particularly in British English where it serves as the everyday term for what many people simply call broccoli. The word derives from Calabria, the southern Italian region associated with this variety of Brassica oleracea, and entered English as part of the broader wave of Italian food vocabulary adopted during the twentieth century. In cooking, calabrese behaves like any sprouting broccoli: it is steamed, boiled, roasted, or stir-fried briefly so that it keeps its colour and slight crunch. Nutritionally it is valued for vitamins C and K and for fibre, which has made it a fixture of health-conscious cooking. Although gardeners distinguish true calabrese from other broccoli types such as purple sprouting, most shoppers encounter it as an undifferentiated green vegetable. The word is a useful reminder that even the plainest produce can carry a specific name and a geographic story rooted in Italian agriculture.
nounA variety of green sprouting broccoli, especially the large-headed type widely sold in supermarkets. In British English it is the standard everyday name for ordinary broccoli.
- The large-headed green sprouting broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) commonly sold in British shops
- (chiefly US, in food contexts) broccoli of this Calabrian type, sometimes used of the spicy Calabrian pepper or sausage by extension
"Steam the calabrese until it is just tender and still vividly green."
"She tossed florets of calabrese into the stir-fry at the last minute so they stayed crisp."
"The allotment's first calabrese heads were ready to cut by early September."
Usually treated as a mass noun referring to the vegetable collectively; occasionally pluralised as 'calabreses' when counting individual plants or heads, but this is rare.
"There are three calabrese growing in the raised bed."
Named after the southern Italian region of Calabria, this humble supermarket staple crossed the Atlantic to become what most Britons simply call 'broccoli'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of calabrese
The word calabrese comes from the Italian adjective meaning 'of Calabria', the mountainous region at the toe of Italy where this style of broccoli was traditionally grown. It entered English alongside other Italian culinary borrowings such as broccoli and zucchini, largely during the twentieth century as Italian vegetables became mainstream in British and American shops. Its adoption reflects how food names often travel with the produce itself, anchoring an ordinary vegetable to a specific Mediterranean homeland.
How calabrese is actually used
In Britain 'calabrese' is essentially the trade name for standard green broccoli; many shoppers use the two terms interchangeably without realising they are technically distinct varieties.
Easily confused with calabrese
Broccoli refers to the vegetable family generally, while calabrese names one specific large-headed sprouting variety that in Britain is often simply called 'broccoli'.
A calabash is a gourd or its dried shell used as a container or instrument, unrelated to this brassica despite the similar spelling.