Compare prices for fresh cauliflower across Edmonton retailers.
Cauliflower is cut from the plant fully mature and does not ripen or improve afterward, so there is no waiting for it to come around — the head you buy is as good as it will get, and the whole job is to pick one that was harvested fresh. Look for a heavy, compact head whose curd, the dense white dome of undeveloped flower buds, is creamy white to ivory, tight, and unbroken, wrapped in crisp, bright green leaves that are still firmly attached. The leaves are the most honest clue to freshness because they wilt and yellow before the curd shows much change, so a head ringed with perky green leaves was almost certainly cut recently. Heft matters too: a head that feels heavy for its size is dense and well hydrated rather than dried out. A faint creamy or pale-yellow tint from sun exposure in the field is only cosmetic and does not affect eating quality, but pass over any head whose curd has begun to loosen and separate into a rough, pebbly surface, which signals the buds starting to open with age.
Every head of cauliflower is ready to use the moment it is bought, so having good cauliflower later in the week is a matter of storage rather than ripening. Keep it unwashed in a loose or perforated bag in the refrigerator crisper, where it holds well for roughly one to two weeks; storing it stem-side down helps keep moisture from settling into the curd, where it encourages the brown speckling that is the first visible breakdown. Cauliflower is moderately sensitive to ethylene, the ripening gas given off by apples, pears, bananas, and tomatoes, which hastens yellowing and spotting, so store it away from ripening fruit. Light surface speckling can be pared away with a knife and the rest of the head used without concern.
A head is past its best when small tan-to-brown spots spread and darken across the curd, when the surface turns grey or develops fuzzy black mould, when the curd softens or feels slimy, or when it gives off a strong, stale, cabbage-like sulfur smell — at that point it should be discarded rather than trimmed. Scattered light-brown specks on an otherwise firm, white head are only surface blemishes and can simply be cut off. One cold-weather caution for Edmonton: cauliflower chills below about freezing and is injured at sub-zero temperatures, where the curd turns water-soaked and browns once it thaws, so a head left in a freezing vehicle or an unheated entryway in winter will come indoors limp and discoloured — carry it home promptly and keep it cold but never frozen.
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