Funny, the exact same thing happened to me a few months ago when I tried to make it. But I was winging it, don't remember exactly how I went about making it.

First thought was that the broccoli had been sprayed with something and it didn't get washed off. :p Next thought was garlic that had burned. Next thought was some other vegetable added that wasn't fully mature.

What was the recipe??? :)

IDK I washed my broccoli thoroughly & didn't use garlic. I guess I may never know??

How did you make it? If I were making it, I would cut off all the florets and reserve those, and then slice the stems into small pieces and saute or roast those with some onion to develop some sweetness. Then I would puree all of that in some vegetable broth, add the florets and cook those until just done and then add the cheese.

You have to make sure that you do not overcook the stems as well, but if it is slightly bitter, a bit of salt should make help the taste.

Lars

We make gallons of this yearly. Some years it seems that the broccoli is more bitter than other years. Adding lots of onion helps, as does making it half and half broccoli/cauliflower.

Did you taste the broccoli before you made the soup? Broccoli is naturally bitter, though some people taste the bitterness more than others. It's certainly possible that different crops in different years and/or different soil will have a different amount of bitterness, but it's always there.

I've read that blanching in water (rather than steam) removes a lot of the bitterness. I don't know if that's true--I haven't done a side by side test--but blanched florets, which are often served plain, do seem sweeter. Blanching is no big deal, especially if you're making soup (so it won't matter if they don't get shocked cold just perfectly). You might try that next time.

I doubt the problem was the stock if it was put up in a factory. They monitor and taste test that kind of thing constantly. You can call the company to see if they had any other complaints.

'Broccoli is naturally bitter, though some people taste the bitterness more than others.'

I had no idea, but it makes sense. Broccoli is my favorite veg. by far. I have eaten it regularly thru six decades and I have never considered it to be bitter. Perhaps you and George Bush the elder are among the unfortunate.

The bitterness of different types of broccoli varies as well. I ended up growing a variety of broccoli this year that I hadn't grown before, and although it produced well, it is so bitter as to be inedible. Broccoli is my favorite veggie, so I was truly disappointed that I was unable to eat any of it.

I think maybe broccoli gets bitter at the end of the season as does lettuce, basil and probably things I don't know about. Adding some salt (as publikman suggests) will help. Salt helps everything!!!!!

How about the type of cheese you used? That is usually the wild card for me.

There is a chemical that occurs in broccoli that some percentage of the population cannot taste at all, whereas to others it tastes unbearably bitter. I saw a PBS science program about it, where they made an extract of the chemical and would test the subjects by putting a few drops in the subjects mouth. Some subjects reported that it just tasted like water, while recoiled backwards, sometimes spitting onto the floor.

They said there was a strong correlation between being able to taste this chemical and self-reporting as not liking broccoli.

We love broccoli, and now cauliflower, since I always steam/saute the cauliflower. We didn't care for it before now.

Last summer we bought a bunch of broccoli at the farmers market that was deeply discounted. Cooked a head and we couldn't eat it. Horrible. Gave it all to my composting worms. We haven't bought broccoli at the market since, but have never had that problem with store-bought broccoli.