The word for salsify in Dutch is a real tongue twister – the sort of word they’d have tested on soldiers during the war to check which side they were on. Schorseneren. It sounds nearly as ugly as it looks. It’s a muddy black tubular root, with wormy little shoots poking out of one end. Altogether more like something from Doctor Who than a vegetable. But here at Foodie HQ we’re not scared by the odd sci-fi vege, even if it does appear to have hit every branch of the ugly tree from which it fell.
Instead, it got summarily washed, peeled, chopped into roast-able pieces and popped in a hot oven along with some fennel and thyme. Given that it’s also known as the oyster plant, I was expecting my salsify to taste a little more, well, bivalvian. Instead, its closest approximation is a cross between a parsnip and an artichoke heart – maybe. Or maybe it’s just one of those things you have to try for yourself.
