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Salsify Fried in Batter
Cook the salsify until tender, drain and cut into pieces three inches long; drop in a basin with two tablespoonfuls oil, one of vinegar, little mignonette pepper, and salt; let the salsify steep in this until about ten minutes before sending to the table; they must then be drained on a napkin, dipped in some light made batter, and fried in hot lard; when done drain them on a cloth, dish them up on a napkin with fried parsley and serve.
A straightforward fritter, but two details carry it: the marinade, which does most of the seasoning, and the temperature of the fat, which the original leaves to judgement.
- Buying and peeling salsifySalsify is sold as long, thin, tan-skinned roots, sometimes labelled oyster plant. Peel it and hold the pieces in water with a squeeze of lemon or a splash of vinegar; the cut flesh browns within minutes.
- "Cook until tender"Simmer whole or in long lengths in salted water, 20 to 30 minutes depending on thickness, until a knife point slides in with no resistance. Undercooked salsify stays woody at the core and the batter coating hides it until it is too late.
- Mignonette pepperCoarsely cracked pepper, usually white or a mix of white and black; the name is generally said to come from the resemblance of the broken grains to mignonette seed. Crush peppercorns under a pan rather than using fine ground pepper.
- The steeping stepTwo tablespoons oil to one of vinegar is a plain vinaigrette, and the drained hot salsify absorbs it as it cools. Half an hour is enough; this is the recipe's only seasoning, so do not skip it.
- Dry before dippingDraining on a napkin is not fussiness. Marinade left on the surface keeps batter from sticking and makes hot fat spit.
- "Light made batter"A thin coating batter of flour, a beaten egg and enough milk, water or beer to reach the consistency of pouring cream. It should veil the salsify, not encase it.
- Frying temperatureLard at 350 to 375F. Below that the batter soaks; much above it and the outside colours before the coating sets. Fry in small batches so the fat does not drop in temperature.
- Fried parsleySprigs must be bone dry, then dropped into the fat for a few seconds until the sizzling stops and they turn bright and crisp. Wet parsley will spatter violently.
- YieldA pound of roots serves three or four as a side dish. Serve immediately; battered salsify softens within minutes.
Salsify was a standard kitchen-garden root in Britain and America through the nineteenth century, valued because its cooked flesh was thought to taste faintly of oysters, which is traditionally said to be how it earned the common name oyster plant. It appears constantly in period cookbooks stewed in milk, made into mock oyster fritters, or, as here, treated in the French manner: boiled, marinated in vinaigrette, then battered and deep fried. That sequence of steeping a cooked vegetable in oil and vinegar before frying is often met with in period treatments of salsify, artichokes and cardoons, and the instruction to dish up on a napkin with fried parsley suggests the conventions of French service, though the same presentation appears in English household books as well. Salsify fell out of general use in English-speaking kitchens over the twentieth century, though it remains common in French markets and turns up in farmers' markets in late autumn and winter.