by James Alexander-Sinclair
Before the introduction of the potato to Europe in 1536, the parsnip was a much more mainstream vegetable than it is now.
Think of a vegetable that sums up Christmas. Easy - except that to make things a bit more difficult I am withdrawing the noble sprout from the equation. So that leaves the humble spud and the noble parsnip, and, as far as I am concerned, the latter wins.
Before the introduction of the potato to Europe in 1536, the parsnip was a much more mainstream vegetable than it is now. Parsnips are pretty easy to grow by sowing directly into the ground around March and April - dig the ground well as lumps and bumps will make them adopt unnecessarily distorted shapes. Oh, and don't add too much manure, as that will make them fork. The roots are best harvested after the frost has been, as the cold tends to make them much sweeter and more delicious.
My wife roasts them with maple syrup and grainy mustard: which, I believe, is an adaptation of a Delia Smith recipe. They are also good mashed or in soup or pretty well everywhere: except maybe sorbet or encased in caramel. But I am no chef and I may be far wide of the mark on those two statements.
Parsnips, like carrots are biennials. This means that they flower in the second year but we tend to have eaten them all before they get to flowering stage, so we seldom see the rather fabulous yellow flower - the carrot has a very pretty white flower. However, all this is about to change as, my friend Cleve West will be forgoing his Christmas dinner, in order that his parsnips are flowering in time to be included in the Chelsea Flower Show garden he is designing for the Daily Telegraph. You can see him explaining things here.
Parsnips or not, I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and look forward to seeing you here in the New Year. While I have your attention, here is the link to the Three Men Went To Mow Christmas Special if you have any minutes to spare between snow showers and revelry.
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