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Salsify Salad
Boil 2 or 3 bunches of salsify or oyster-plant until tender. Season the water with salt, vinegar, onion, and a bay leaf. Cut into small pieces, and when cold serve on watercress, and cover with mayonnaise dressing. Garnish with chopped parsley.
A simple cold vegetable salad that depends entirely on cooking the salsify properly and dressing it while it still has some texture. The seasoned cooking liquid does most of the flavouring work.
- What salsify isSalsify (Tragopogon porrifolius) is a long, pale taproot sold in some greengrocers and farm markets in autumn and winter; "oyster-plant" is the same thing, the name usually said to come from a supposed oyster-like flavour. Scorzonera, the black-skinned root sold alongside it, is a different plant but can be cooked the same way.
- QuantityBunch sizes vary, so two or three bunches could be anywhere from about a pound to two pounds of roots; expect a first-course salad for a small table.
- Stop the browningPeeled salsify discolours within minutes. Drop the pieces into water with a squeeze of lemon or a spoon of vinegar as you work, then transfer straight to the seasoned cooking water.
- The cooking waterFor 2 lb of roots, use enough water to cover with about a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of vinegar, half an onion and one bay leaf. The vinegar also helps keep the roots pale.
- TimingWhole roots take 20-30 minutes depending on thickness; cut lengths take 12-15. Test with a knife tip and pull them the moment they yield, since overcooked salsify turns to mush and will not hold its shape under dressing.
- Cool in the liquidThe recipe says to serve it cold but not how to get there. Let the pieces cool in their seasoned water rather than draining them hot, which is where most of the flavour is picked up. Drain well before dressing or the mayonnaise will slacken.
- AssemblyWatercress here is the base, not a mixed-in green. Bed the leaves on the plate, mound the salsify, spoon over mayonnaise and finish with parsley. Dress no more than half an hour ahead.