But for the British Sprout Grower's Association, the vegetable's name and image is causing them even more strife.

They are fed up of the prefix Brussels applied to a vegetable that is a native of Britain, with £30million of sprouts a year home-grown.

"We all know that the only reason they have this label is due to their popularity as a delicacy in Belgium in the 1500's," said Tatton's head gardener Sam Youd.

The newly-formed association now plans to spend £60,000 on a campaign to make the sprout as trendy as the mangetout in the vegetable world over the next three years.

"The sprout has an exceptionally bad image - it is still seen as a granny vegetable," said Alex Bingham, Marketing Executive for the British Sprout Grower's Association.

"We hope to lift the sprout's profile and the image regarding the usage - we want to make it more in vogue."

But Mr Youd says the campaign is not getting to the root of the sprout's problem.

"If they are serious about this I think we need to consider the varieties of sprouts we are breeding here in Britain," he said.

"Many are bitter, mushy and taste awful."

Mr Youd said that consumers needed to make sure that they bought fresh, green-leaved sprouts to ensure a better flavour and warned them to beware of the variety they bought this Christmas.

"One variety was said, when cooked, to tast slimy with an unpleasant smell and a distinctive flavour of soap and urine," he said.

"With flavours such as those perhaps £60,000 is not enough to persuade us to eat our greens."

But David Smith, head chef at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool, has just taken part in the Food Show at the Birmingham NEC promoting sprouts with the association - and was astounded by the interest.

"We were bombarded," he said. "All I could see were hands grabbing at my deep-fried sprouts and sprout soup."