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FOOD making carbs count
Stick with it!
There's more to salsify than meets the eye…
By Judith Ozkan.
What looks like a bunch
of hairy twigs and
tastes like asparagus?
The answer is
salsify - pronounced salsi-fee - a
versatile root vegetable which is
not much to look at but works
well in the kitchen. Although the
unwashed roots might seem a little
unappealing, above the soil, salsify or
Tragopogon porrifolius, is also grown
and admired for its attractive starshaped
mauve flowers. It's thought
to have originated in central Europe
and can be found growing wild
across the world as it has adapted to
different climates. It reaches heights
of around 1.2 m (4 ft) and in the UK
it flowers from May to September.
The vegetable can be harvested
throughout autumn and into winter,
which is generally the best time to
find locally grown produce.
It's got a lot in common with
other root vegetables such as carrots
and parsnips although taste-wise
it's been compared to oysters, which
may be why it's also known as an
oyster plant. It's also said to have the
distinctive 'woody' taste of artichoke
and asparagus with hints of aniseed.
Mrs Beeton was a devotee.
Celebrity push
It was well-known during the
Victorian era and is mentioned in
Mrs Beeton's 1861 Book of Household
Management. She suggests boiling
salsify and serving with white
sauce or coating in mayonnaise to
make a salad. Although the roots
are widely cultivated and eaten
across continental Europe, salsify
remains mostly unrecognised in
the UK. This is despite attempts to
revive interest in the vegetable a
few years ago when potato supplier
roots are no longer to be found on
the shelves of Waitrose, nor has the
supermarket chain any plans to stock
it again soon. Despite this salsify is,
and remains, an easy to cook, tasty
and versatile vegetable that many
chefs and up-market restaurants
prize for its firm crunchy texture and
delicate taste. It certainly impressed
Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux
junior and appears seasonally on
the menus of all of the Roux family
restaurants. Michel's dad, Albert
Roux, described it as: "Packed with
flavour and goodness. A must on the
dinner table."
When it comes to adaptability
salsify can hold its own in the
kitchen. You can eat it raw in a slaw
or boiled, steamed, roasted, sauteed,
or baked. You can even eat the skin
if you pluck off the hairy bits and
give it a good scrub. A bonus is that
the highly decorative flowers of
the salsify plant are also edible and
look good in a salad or scattered
on a plate of roasted roots. Once
washed and peeled, the long thin
root reveals a sparkling white flesh
that is ready for anything. Salsify
contains fibre, Vitamin C, B6, folate,
potassium, manganese, protein,
calcium and iron. Nutritionally, it
has been compared to kale, as it is
low in calories and good for your
digestive system.
Hard to find
Finding salsify can be a bit of a
problem but it's worth asking around
independent outlets to see if it's in
season or to ask whether they can
source it from overseas suppliers.
You can buy in bulk from online
specialist retailers (at around £10
a kilo). When salsify is in season
it can often be found in weekly
Packed with
flavour and
goodness. A must
on the dinner
table ~
Albert Roux
Albert Bartlett started growing the
vegetable at sites in Cambridgeshire
and Ayrshire. Attempts to put salsify
back on the table included supplying
the supermarket chain Waitrose and
enlisting celebrity chefs from the
Roux family as brand ambassadors.
The push to popularise salsify
appears not to have been that
successful as the dark, stick-like