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To Fry Parsnips
Parsnips are very nice cut lengthwise and fried in butter until brown.
A single sentence of instruction, which assumes the cook already knows that parsnips are boiled before they meet the pan. Fill in the gaps and this is still one of the best things to do with the root.
- The missing first stepMany nineteenth-century vegetable recipes assume the roots have already been boiled, and this one may be doing the same; the text itself is silent. Parboiling certainly helps, since raw slices can brown before the centre softens: simmer the whole peeled roots in salted water until a knife meets slight resistance, 12-20 minutes depending on thickness, then drain and dry before slicing lengthwise.
- Cut and thicknessHalve or quarter lengthwise into pieces about half an inch thick. Older roots have a fibrous core running down the centre; if it feels tough under the knife, cut it out.
- Butter and heatButter alone browns fast and burns at parsnip-frying temperature. Medium heat, and either clarified butter or butter with a spoonful of neutral oil, gives the deep brown edge the recipe is after without black flecks.
- Sugars will catchParsnips are among the sweetest common roots, and that sugar caramelises quickly. Turn them once, leave them alone between turns, and expect 4-6 minutes a side.
- SeasoningThe original gives none. Salt after frying, and black pepper or a little nutmeg suits them; a squeeze of lemon at the end cuts the sweetness.
- QuantityReckon on 1 lb of parsnips for three people as a side dish, less if the rest of the meal is rich.
Parsnips were a staple sweetener and winter starch in northern Europe long before the potato displaced them, and they hold their sugar because frost converts stored starch to sugar in the ground — which is why it is often said that the roots should be left in the earth until after a hard freeze. Frying parboiled roots in butter was one way to make a humble vegetable worth putting on a table.