Sweet-and-Sour Cauliflower With Golden Raisins Recipe (2024)

Is there a substitute for sherry vinegar (which I don't typically keep around) such as champagne vinegar, or something else entirely?

Use Balsamic and a little less brown sugar

I like to add some slivers of preserved lemons to add more pizazz to this dish.

BEST! CAULIFLOWER! EVER! My husband doesn't like cauliflower and had seconds. Can't wait to try leftovers tomorrow at room temp. I followed the recipe closely, albeit with these subs: pepper/Turkish red and smoked ground peppers; no currants; apple cider vinegar/raspberry vinegar; and, pine nuts/slivered almonds. Wonderful flavor with onions and raisens and a bit of nice sauce. Served it with NYT Sweet and Spicy Grilled Chicken Breasts and simple salad. Great combo.

Disappointed the recipe did not come together for me. Cooked the cauliflower for over 20 minutes, still not tender; added a lid and 10 more minutes of cooking. Sauce was not balanced being too acidic.

Respectful of its health benefits though I am, I forgot the apple cider vinegar but am not persuaded that this dish needed two different types of vinegar. Those large florets have to be sliced thin. They will then cook thoroughly in the time provided by David Tanis. (Yes, this recipe takes focus, effort & patience, especially if halved. Mine didn't need any more sherry vinegar or pepper as the seasoning was fine unadjusted.) There's very little sugar in the recipe. Enjoy it.

To Janerose: When a recipe calls for sherry vinegar (which I don't keep on hand either) I use a mixture of apple cider or white wine vinegar with a little balsamic.

I used champagne vinegar along with the apple cider vinegar and it was perfect.

Loved the flavors and don't want to complain, but my cauliflower was still raw and I needed to increase cook time.

This is an excellent and easy dish. You can use any vinegar. I made this with honey wine vinegar from Utah, with William-Sonoma mango vinegar and several others...all delicious ... I use dried cranberries at times as currants are hard to find.

Champagne vinegar is just fine as a sub for sherry vinegar

I am unsure why so many recipes include sugar when sweet foods like currants and raisins are included. I'm sure it would be sweet enough without sugar and we certainly get enough of that stuff as it is.

I added a few carrots cut on the bias about 1/2" thick a couple minutes before I put in the cauliflower. Also included a tablespoon or so of coriander seeds that I toasted up with the onions. Fantastic and flavorful side dish on my early Thanksgiving table!

Did this as a side dish with roast lamb. Yum! Also made it for a solo supper, really nice.

Really really good. Had no trouble getting the cauliflower tender in the time specified with very thin (use a sharp knife!) slucing. At end added quite a bit more salt and almost an extra tablespoon sherry vinegar. Chives are essential taste and make it really appealing.

I baked the Cauliflower with cumin, salt, pepper and Olive oil till crispy. I also baked the onions with turmeric, saffaran and olive oil. I cooked the sauce separately on the stove and poured it over cauliflower and onion mixture at the end when serving. I excluded the chives all together. so delicious!!!

I found that for each head of cauliflower, use the entire recipe of aromatics. Proportionally, this adds to a better tasting dish. Note: use crazens for dried cherries. John

Used thinly sliced leeks in lieu of onion. Visually and mouth feelingly more appealing.

In order to make this a main dish over rice, I added toasted chopped nuts, a little turmeric, nutritional yeast, and toasted quinoa. Topped with grated cheese.

The cauliflower cooks down to a much smaller size, so if you're cooking for a crowd add another head.

I just made this and it is excellent! I used 1/2 a red onion and half vandalized, because that's what I had, a little more than a tblsp of sherry vinegar and more golden raisins and no currants because I didn't have any, but otherwise followed the directions.

Very good. Would decrease the amount of sugar next time, cut it by half. Left out the currants. Subbed cashews for pine nuts b/c that's what I had.

*Made per recipe first time & this was just right agrodolce balance of sweet & tart for us. (Chose turmeric in the '...or saffron' option.) *Took a couple of extra min. to cook cauliflower step 2 per notes of others. But also note this is supposed to be just tender not soft.*Tasty warm or room temp. Appreciate it can be made ahead.*Second time subbed Farmers' Market 'new to me' veg Caraflex cabbage (cut @ 1.5" pieces) for cauliflower & also very good.

This was disappointing and we threw away the leftovers. Somehow the cauliflower didn't work with the other ingredients for us. However, at the bottom of the bowl, the dried fruit, sweet-and-sour sauce and pine nuts made a lovely sort of chutney that I may save and use on a salad or rice. I absolutely love cauliflower, but didn't like it with the other ingredients in this recipe.

If you like sweet and sour, make this exactly as written. If you reduce either the sweet ingredients or the sour ingredients, the dish will be either too sour or too sweet. And make sure to slice your florets to a quarter inch thickness, or they won't become tender in the prescribed time.

I brought this to a large family Thanksgiving lunch. It was the only dish that rated several "Who brought the cauliflower...it's delicious!" out of any of the many selections on the buffet. The only kink for me during the prep was cooking to get the cauliflower tender. My solution was to add a bit more olive oil and cooking with the lid ON.

I love this on its own but also toss it with a little rigatoni or any pasta for a quick dinner, and have it with a salad. It is so good.

Loved the flavors and don't want to complain, but my cauliflower was still raw and I needed to increase cook time.