Back in the days when fractals where the most fashionable thing, I had heard of fractal cabbages, and seen pictures of them. However, they are typically not available in French or American stores, so I didn’t see a real one until noticing that they are very common in Swiss supermarkets. Here’s a picture of one, but I should say that pictures do not quite convey the actual feel of seeing and handling this vegetable (not to mention eating it — and it is indeed quite tasty). The diameter (of horizontal cross-sections) of the specimen displayed here is between 10 and 15 centimeters, and the height is slightly larger.
9 thoughts on “Fractal cabbage”
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Just to defend my country’s honor, these are sold at the farm market here in Madison…
I agree, they look beautiful and taste really good. I first had them in Grenoble.
Here is another mention of fractalic vegtables:
http://asymptotia.com/2008/02/10/a-delicious-fractal/
Thanks for the reference! (I have to admit I didn’t do any measurement of the structure of the vegetable…) Amusingly, there was none in the store where I usually buy them this morning…
I would like to know the Hausdorff dimension of this cabbage.
I think in culinary circles they go by the name “Romanesque Broccoli”. Very pleasing on the eye, the mind, and the tongue!