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Parsnip Fritters (Boil in salted water until)
-Boil in salted water until very tender; then mash, seasoning with a little butter, pepper and salt, add a little flour and one or two eggs, well beaten ; make into small balls or cakes and fry in hot lard.
A vegetable cake rather than a batter fritter, and typical of its era in giving no quantities at all. The proportions below are a working starting point.
- Scale itFor four people, figure about 1 1/2 lb parsnips, 1 tablespoon butter, 2 to 3 tablespoons flour and one egg. "One or two eggs" is the original's only concession to precision; a second egg loosens the mixture, so add it only if the mash is stiff and dry.
- The hinge is drynessBoiled parsnips hold a great deal of water, and a wet mash will fall apart in the fat. Drain them well, then return the pan to low heat for a minute or two to steam off the surface moisture before mashing and seasoning.
- Core them if largeBig roots can have a woody central core. Quarter them lengthwise and cut it out before boiling.
- Cooking time"Very tender" means roughly 15 to 20 minutes for 1-inch pieces, depending on the age and thickness of the roots. Underdone parsnip stays fibrous and will not mash smooth.
- FatLard is a good choice for flavour, though its smoke point is only moderate; any neutral oil works. Shallow-fry in about 1/4 inch of fat at 350-375F, three to four minutes a side, rather than deep-frying, since the cakes are already cooked through.
- Chill before fryingNot in the original, but half an hour in the refrigerator firms the mixture and makes the cakes far easier to turn.
- ServingSmall cakes about 2 1/2 inches across, roughly a dozen from the quantity above. They are a side dish for roast or boiled meat, not a sweet, despite the parsnip's sugar.
Parsnips were an important winter vegetable in Britain and colonial America, valued for their sweetness before cheap cane and beet sugar, and they keep in the ground through frost, which converts some of their starch to sugar and is generally held to improve them. By the later nineteenth century the parsnip is usually said to have lost ground to the potato, and it survives in late Victorian and Edwardian collections mostly in exactly this form: boiled, mashed, bound with egg and flour, and fried into cakes, the same treatment given to salsify, corn and cold potato.