Restaurant Magazine
Salsifaction Guaranteed

For such plain-looking veg, salsify and its close cousin scorzonera (aka black or Spanish salsify) can excite strong reactions. “My kitchen has always been divided,” says Amanda Powley, founder of arguably Britain‘s best vegetarian restaurant, the award-winning Terre A Terre in Brighton. “I love the stuff, but I recently had a head chef who refused to even handle it!”

Salsify’s unprepossessing appearance doesn’t help. “Salsify and scorzonera are discouraging looking vegetables,” writes Polly Tyrer in Leiths Vegetable Bible, “but a real delicacy lies beneath their earthy exteriors.” It’s a view echoed by Alex Perkins, sous chef at Roast in London‘s Borough Market. “Salsify is very under rated. But who would pick up what looks like a box of muddy sticks?”

Though originally southern European, salsify has been grown in Britain for centuries. Yet its uninspiring appearance and subtle taste has seen it unfairly cast to the kitchen sidelines. The root of Purple Salsify is what usually appears on menus, with varieties including White French (a favourite for soups) and Mammoth Sandwich Island, which can reach 10 inches in length.

While Alex Perkins’ image of muddy sticks is fair, a kinder description might compare salsify to a long, thin parsnip, with creamy white flesh and a thick pale brown skin (scorzonera is darker skinned). Though normally harvested between October and January, some growers believe leaving the roots in the ground to face a few winter frosts makes them more tender. Others wait for spring when young shoots appear which can be cut and cooked like asparagus.

Like other root vegetables, salsify can be roasted or boiled, mashed, sautéed , blanched for winter salads, or turned into intriguing soups. Roots must be thoroughly scrubbed under cold running water to get off the dirt, then peeled and put immediately in water with lemon juice to stop them going brown.

A few chefs believe boiling salsify without peeling makes the skin easier to remove but the consensus is against them. “It’s not that difficult to peel prior to cooking,” says Martin Blunos, holder of two Michelin stars at Lettonie in Bath in the 1990s before turning to consultancy and TV work. “If you peel prior to cooking you can tell if the salsify is tough or fibrous inside.  Like most roots, if they have been hanging around the sugars in the veg start turning to starch, affecting both the colour and the taste.”

Alex Perkins suggests the best approach is to boil salsify with flavourings. “Bay leaf, thyme and lemon are good as salsify has a mild flavour but a lovely soft texture. Some people boil it in milk to help keep the pure white colour of the root.”

Though its taste is subtle, there is a variety within salsify’s subtlety which is arguably the key to its unique appeal. While roast scorzonera has a mild, sweet flavour akin to parsnip, roasted salsify has a stronger taste some describe as peppery, others as pleasantly bitter. For sautéing, Yotam Ottolenghi suggests burnt butter to amplify its delicacy.

Some also detect oysters in the taste of salsify, which explains its occasional name of oyster plant. No surprise, therefore, that salsify makes a distinctive accompaniment to seafood, particularly lobster and sea bass. It’s a pairing which has inspired an array of top chefs.

At The Berkeley, Marcus Wareing pairs roasted salsify with poached lobster, braised trotters and vanilla butter, while Shane Osborn’s menu at Pied A Terre matches roasted salsify with pan-fried sea bass, creamed shallot and creamed ceps. Salsify fritters with sea bass helped Dominic Chapman earn the 2008 Good Food Guide Best Pub chef award at the Royal Oak near Maidenhead, while at Castle Combe’s Manor House, Richard Davies poaches salsify to go with Cornish brill.

Alex Perkins also opts for fish at Roast. “We use salsify for halibut - cooked, rolled in foaming butter and tossed in chervil and parsley - it really picks up the butter and herbs. We serve it with a beetroot sauce as the beetroot compliments the earthiness of the salsify, while neither overwhelms the halibut.”

It’s not exclusively for fish, though. At Liverpool’s Carriage Works, Paul Askew sautes salsify for Charolais beef, while Tom Aikens’ salsify recipes include one with braised oxtail, another with roast grouse plus a winter salad with artichoke. The Grill Room at The Dorchester tempts carnivores with braised salsify alongside game terrine and pear.

Like game, salsify is a seasonal pleasure. “Seasonality is part of its appeal,” argues Alex Perkins. “Salsify is around when there isn’t the abundance of vegetables you find in the summer.”

Sources of salsify include Humber Growers in North Humberside (01482 667 151) and Chef’s Connection at London’s New Covent Garden Market (chefs-connection.com), while online suppliers include efoodies.co.uk or natoora.co.uk. Time to get some salsifaction in your life!