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Fried Salsify
Scrape and boil one dozen roots of salsify; when done, drain, dust with salt, pepper, sugar, and flour. Put two tablespoonfuls of drippings in a frying-pan, when hot put in the salsify. Turn carefully until brown on all sides. Serve with baked or hot boiled ham.
A straightforward two-stage vegetable dish: boil, then pan-fry. The only real difficulty is sourcing the root and keeping it from discolouring while you work.
- What salsify isA long, thin, tapering root, also called oyster plant or vegetable oyster, sold at farmers' markets and some grocers in autumn and winter. Black salsify (scorzonera) behaves the same way in this recipe.
- Keep it from browningScraped salsify oxidises to a dull grey within minutes. Drop the peeled roots straight into water acidulated with lemon juice or vinegar, and boil them in the same kind of acidulated water.
- Boiling timeWhole roots take roughly 20 to 30 minutes in salted water depending on thickness; they should yield to a knife tip without collapsing. Overcooked salsify turns to fibre and slush and will not hold together in the pan.
- Cut before fryingThe recipe does not say, but a dozen whole roots will not brown evenly. Cut the boiled roots into two- or three-inch lengths, or split thick ones lengthwise, then dry them well before dusting.
- The dustingSalt, pepper, a pinch of sugar and just enough flour to coat lightly — shake off the excess. Damp roots will take on too much flour and steam rather than crisp.
- DrippingsBeef or bacon fat, saved from roasting. Butter with a little oil, or plain vegetable oil, works; the ham on the plate already supplies the pork note.
- Pan heatMedium-high, and do not crowd the pan. Turn with tongs rather than a spoon so the coating stays on, and allow four to six minutes total.
- YieldA dozen roots serves about four as a side dish.
Salsify was a common kitchen-garden root in Britain and America through the nineteenth century, valued because it kept in the ground over winter and could be lifted as needed. Its alternative name, oyster plant, comes from a faintly briny sweetness that cooks of the period compared to oysters — the comparison is traditional rather than exact, and salsify was often used to stretch or stand in for oysters in fritters and mock-oyster soups. Its near-disappearance from American tables is often put down to labour rather than taste: the roots are thin, forked and tedious to scrape, and they discolour the moment they are peeled, which suited a household with kitchen help better than it suits a supermarket supply chain. Pairing the fried roots with ham, as here, can be found in the plain-cooking manuals of the period.