Forgotten vegetables?

[ChrisBelgium]

We have a renewed interest in the "forgotten vegetables" over here. Veggies known to the elder, but many pro- and amateurcooks are suddenly interested again. Here's one. Recognize it?

http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/vv92/ChrisBelgium1/Jam/schorseneren1.jpg

Preparation; peel, put immediately in water and lemon to keep white colour. Cook in water. Here shown in a light velouté made of butter, flour, cooking water, milk, p&s, lemonjuice, powdered lemongrass... Recognize it now? Let me give you a hint. The older called them "the poor man's asparagus"...
http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/vv92/ChrisBelgium1/Jam/schorseneren3WB.jpg

[ChrisLehrer]

I've heard the phrase used in reference to salsify. Is that what this is? I've never seen it in person.

[Peter]

Hi,

in Germany we call it Schwarzwurzel, i.e. "black root" or winter asparagus.

Peter

[Fred]

Yes, black salsify. A perfectly good root vegetable. The recipe sounds excellent,

[ChrisBelgium]

It's indeed salsify. Or "the poor man's asparagus". Maybe Peter from Germany will also agree this vegetable has nothing whatsoever to do with asparagus. I love salsify! Excellent companion with a nice roast of beef.
A little struggle to peel them, as they discolor fast and release a sticky milky liquid when peeling them. But, some lemonjuice and everything is forgiven. Preparing them and putting them immediately in lemonwater stops the discoloring. Lemonjuice also cleans your fingers when peeling them.

I prefer them as you can see in a velouté sauce, but you can puree them or shave some long chips on a mandoline and deefry them in not too hot oil.

[Peter]

>Maybe Peter from Germany will also agree this vegetable has nothing whatsoever to do with asparagus

Nothing. I knew it when I was younger though it still exists, it reminds me of kohlrabi. We make a velouté with both vegetables but we use nutmeg, not lemon grass. (Cologne is only 60 miles from Belgium).

Peter

[ChrisBelgium]

Kohlrabi is also counted amongst the so-called forgotten vegetables, together with topinambours (Jerusalem artichokes), turnips, parsnip, parcely root and many more.

I use lemonjuice and powdered lemongrass to counterbalance the sweet taste of salsify; yummie. But, indeed, nutmegg is the standard spice in most of these sauces.

[blwchef]

Kohlrabi is also counted amongst the so-called forgotten vegetables, together with topinambours (Jerusalem artichokes), turnips, parsnip, parcely root and many more.

I use lemonjuice and powdered lemongrass to counterbalance the sweet taste of salsify; yummie. But, indeed, nutmegg is the standard spice in most of these sauces.

huh, we use all of these at work. My father in law is crazy for kohlrabi. Makes a wicked coleslaw out of it. Essential in Vietnamese cuisine too.

[Arturo]

I was reading somewhere (David Lebovitz's blog maybe) that They fell out of favor in Europe after WWII because they were all people had to subsist on and people didn't want to be reminded of that time.

edit: found the mention.. new I heard that term somewhere!
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2010/01/roasted_root_vegetable_wheat_ber.html

[ChrisBelgium]

Arturo, that's a fantastic blog! Thanks for posting this. I didn't even know there was a reason why these veggies had disappeared from our menus. His explanation makes sense to me.
Also his remark on hard to find parsnips is true over here. Such a delicious veggie luckyly reintroduced. Turnips on the other hand have always been here since they are an essential part of "hutsepot", a veggiestew, a little comparable to Irish stew. And I always remembered salsify and I cook them at least a few times each winter.

@BLWChef; young people don't recognize many of these veggies any more. They are indeed only known in some restaurants, but as I said, they are all coming back.

I was served a veggiepie with venison not so long ago. The veggiepie was made in some kind of lasagnastyle; layers of thinly sliced potatoe, sweet potatoe and a forgotten veggie called "warmoes", AKA "snijbiet"(maybe Swiss chard in english?). The warmoes was cooked like a coarse spinach with a lot of garlic and served as a glue between the layers. Absolutely delicious combination! Seems they use the pale stalks and the darkgreen leaves as a seperate dish. I had only heard of it, but never actually seen it.