Parsnips
The parsnip has suffered from a lack of glamour over the years, not helped by it's associations over the last couple of centuries. Often used to bolster poor harvest, the parsnip was for a long time associated with poverty and treated as a fall-back rather than a choice vegetable (in WW2 it was even used with banana flavouring to try and recreate the bananas that could no longer be bought!)
With a slightly sweet flavour, the best parsnips are to be had after the first frosts, when some of the sugars are converted to starch. A hardy winter vegetable that will survive the winter weather, it is best eaten in season and makes a fantastic accompaniment to a Sunday roast - particularly with beef - especially when roasted with the potatoes and the skins left on.
Tips
- Keep the skins on for the best flavour
- For the best parsnips, wait until the first frosts have come
- Add some parsnips, quartered lengthways, to your roast potatos (in goose fat if possible!) and rosemary
- Parsnips should be firm and dry when you buy them, and will last for a couple of weeks in the fridge in an unsealed plastic bag.
- Larger parships can be a bit woody - smaller parsnips are sweeter and have a better flavour
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