This week from the market: Black Salsify. Strange name.
We got a packet of salsify seeds from Leonie’s uncle for Sinterklaas (Dutch Santa Claus day). I’d never heard of them. They’ve been designated as a “historic vegetable” or forgotten veg. These ignored plants of the past are making a comeback in Holland as oer-oude (prehistoric) sentiments of the good-old days and golden years gone by return in Dutch culture. And local, fresh produce is becoming hip. Greens from back in the day are becoming popular, and lately you see some strange new items popping up at the weekend markets. The organic section of the market is also getting a lot of attention. Always interesting to see the notable difference in size and look between the organic and non-organic produce (the organic stuff is always smaller, but looks better).
I always like going to the market on the weekend. Our favourite vendor gives you a big tray and you can choose exactly what you want and how many. You can also see a bit of a seasonal variation throughout the year. Plus we have the benefit that the market is literally 20 m from our door, which makes it quick and easy to fill the fruit basket on Saturday morning.
Since we’re going to try to grow some this year, we’d thought we’d give them a try this weekend. We picked up these Belgian Black Salsifies (it keeps on being a strange word) at the market and grabbed a few parsnips to go with it. We’re going to get some parsnips going this year in the garden as well.
Schorseneren (Scorzonera hispanica) are long, woody roots. They’re quite thin with a dark, bark-like outer husk which can be easily peeled to reveal soft white insides. It reminds me of white asparagus with a thick outer casing.
We didn’t actually have any idea what to do with them, but after looking online found that you can just boil them for 25 minutes and add a nice sauce. We also decided to make some chips from parsnip, salsify and carrots. You can buy packets of vegetable chips at the store, and that stuff is usually pretty good. We used one of the salsifies as a side dish for dinner. The other one we peeled, and sliced thin lengthwise with a cheese slicer (kaas schaaf). The carrots and parsnips we just cut into little circles.
The chips turned out quite well. We fried them in vegetable oil for about 6-7 minutes until they just turned brown, and let them dry on some paper towels. The salsify chips turned really well, and they seemed to absorb the salt we sprinkled over them nicely, giving a strong salty flavour. The parsnip chips were also good, as well as the slightly sweeter flavour from the carrot chips.
As a side dish, the schorseneren works great. I was hugely surprised. They are super soft and tender, and have a mellow flavour, going great with the cream sauce. Again I was reminded of asparagus, but the texture is much less stringy or tough. I’d say that these things are definitely a winner, and I’m surprised that they’re more common.
I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in the garden with these things. Though I’m definitely going to have to dig down a bit deeper for these. At 50 cm long, they’ll need some nice loose soil to be able to properly extend their roots. Especially since we’re growing on heavy clay soil, there’s a high probability or crooked roots. We’ll see what happens. In the mean time, I might buy these a bit more frequently from the market.
We got a packet of salsify seeds from Leonie’s uncle for Sinterklaas (Dutch Santa Claus day). I’d never heard of them. They’ve been designated as a “historic vegetable” or forgotten veg. These ignored plants of the past are making a comeback in Holland as oer-oude (prehistoric) sentiments of the good-old days and golden years gone by return in Dutch culture. And local, fresh produce is becoming hip. Greens from back in the day are becoming popular, and lately you see some strange new items popping up at the weekend markets. The organic section of the market is also getting a lot of attention. Always interesting to see the notable difference in size and look between the organic and non-organic produce (the organic stuff is always smaller, but looks better).
 |
| Something different for a change |
Since we’re going to try to grow some this year, we’d thought we’d give them a try this weekend. We picked up these Belgian Black Salsifies (it keeps on being a strange word) at the market and grabbed a few parsnips to go with it. We’re going to get some parsnips going this year in the garden as well.
 |
| Like eating a peeled stick |
We didn’t actually have any idea what to do with them, but after looking online found that you can just boil them for 25 minutes and add a nice sauce. We also decided to make some chips from parsnip, salsify and carrots. You can buy packets of vegetable chips at the store, and that stuff is usually pretty good. We used one of the salsifies as a side dish for dinner. The other one we peeled, and sliced thin lengthwise with a cheese slicer (kaas schaaf). The carrots and parsnips we just cut into little circles.
The chips turned out quite well. We fried them in vegetable oil for about 6-7 minutes until they just turned brown, and let them dry on some paper towels. The salsify chips turned really well, and they seemed to absorb the salt we sprinkled over them nicely, giving a strong salty flavour. The parsnip chips were also good, as well as the slightly sweeter flavour from the carrot chips.
As a side dish, the schorseneren works great. I was hugely surprised. They are super soft and tender, and have a mellow flavour, going great with the cream sauce. Again I was reminded of asparagus, but the texture is much less stringy or tough. I’d say that these things are definitely a winner, and I’m surprised that they’re more common.
I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in the garden with these things. Though I’m definitely going to have to dig down a bit deeper for these. At 50 cm long, they’ll need some nice loose soil to be able to properly extend their roots. Especially since we’re growing on heavy clay soil, there’s a high probability or crooked roots. We’ll see what happens. In the mean time, I might buy these a bit more frequently from the market.
 |
| Like asparagus but better |
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