I think the forces of overwhelming evil social programming are pretty strong even when one sees the trick, and feeling the effect is not a sign of weakness or stupidity so much as forces of overwhelming evil social programming.

I had to google kohlrabi and they look so interesting! I must investigate whether my supermarket carries them. I wouldn't be surprised if they do--there are frequently mysterious vegetables that are not in my repertoire because my mom never knew what to do with them either when she was in the States.