Home › Doughnuts and Crullers › Parsnip Fritters
Parsnip Fritters
Make ordinary fritter batter. Have boiled 4 or 5 parsnips (whole). Put fritters on pan and slice parsnips lengthwise. Lay 2 or 3 slices on top of each fritter.
The number of slices to use on each fritter will depend on size of the fritters.
Brown nicely, and serve with any good syrup or honey.
This is closer to a parsnip pancake than a deep-fried fritter: batter goes onto a hot greased pan, slices of pre-cooked parsnip are pressed into the wet surface, and the whole thing is browned on both sides. The hinge is that the parsnips must be fully tender before they meet the batter, since the brief time on the griddle will not cook them further.
- "Ordinary fritter batter"In a book of this period that means roughly 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 egg and about 3/4 cup milk, beaten smooth to a thick pouring batter. Thicker than pancake batter, thin enough to spread slightly in the pan.
- Boiling the parsnipsWhole, unpeeled parsnips take roughly 20 to 30 minutes in salted water depending on thickness. Slip the skins off while warm and cut out the woody central core of any large ones; it stays noticeably firmer and coarser than the surrounding flesh.
- SlicingLengthwise planks about 1/4 inch thick hold together and lie flat. Thicker slices are slower to warm through and more likely to slide off the batter when you turn it.
- Pan heatMedium, around 350F on a griddle, with butter, bacon fat or oil. Too hot and the batter browns before the underside sets; too cool and the fritters absorb fat.
- Assembly and turningLadle the batter, lay the slices on the wet surface and press them in lightly so the batter comes up around the edges. Turn once, when the surface bubbles and the edges look dry, and give the parsnip side a minute or two to caramelize.
- YieldThe recipe gives no batter quantity. Working from 4 or 5 parsnips at 2 or 3 slices per fritter, you land somewhere around 8 to 10 fritters of roughly 3 inches, enough for four at breakfast or as a supper dish.
- ServingMaple syrup is the obvious choice in a Canadian book of this vintage; honey or a corn syrup works. Parsnips are sweet enough that a modest drizzle is plenty.
The Five Roses Cook Book was issued by the Lake of the Woods Milling Company to promote its flour, and like other milling-company books of the era it drew heavily on recipes sent in by customers. Parsnips were a common winter root in eastern Canada, valued because frost in the ground converts their starch to sugar and improves the flavour, and that sweetness explains why a vegetable fritter is served here with syrup rather than gravy. Frying cooked roots in batter is an old economy: it turns yesterday's boiled vegetables into a hot dish substantial enough to anchor a meal, and versions using salsify, carrot and squash appear in North American community cookbooks of the same decades.