Gardening Heritage Roots: Parsley Root, Salsify, & Burdock

There really is no need to suffer with a limited variety of vegetables during the winter months because there could be a much wider selection of root vegetables available. If your favourite market or farmer is not prepared to provide the vegetables discussed here, they would be great to grow in your own artisanal garden.

Throughout my years of growing vegetables for our country’s most acclaimed chefs, I experimented with many roots that have been celebrated through the years. Some of them were successful; others failed in our extreme climate. It took a while to figure out the most unusual procedure demanded by tuberous chervil, but its aromatic roots with enchanting chervil notes made it popular. Another success was crosnes, a type of mint grown for its fascinating roots. The still-wild nature of skirret and rampion, popular during Medieval times, made these delicacies too unreliable for our hot summers and well-drained soils. Heritage roots that can succeed in ordinary gardens include the following.

Parsley Root
 

This is not the root of ordinary curly or flat-leaf parsley; it is a variety of parsley bred specifically for its exceptionally flavourful pure white root. At first glance it looks like a parsnip, but it is less bulbous at the top, has a whiter skin, and horizontal striations down the root confirm it to be parsley root. It can be used as a less cloyingly sweet parsnip.

Introduced to the world by Hamburg breeders in the mid-sixteenth century, this is a relatively new member of the cultivated vegetable family. Its rich parsley/celeriac/carrot flavour can be enjoyed as a substitute for any of these more common ingredients. Raw dices are a great addition to salads. It is wonderful when puréed in soups or sauces. Shredded, it can become a fine vegetarian patty with all the flavour of European cuisines’ foremost herb. Larger roots can be thinly sliced and deep fried for luscious chips. I like to use it as a clear flavouring when preparing stock. Parsley root remains a staple in German, Polish, Jewish, Middle Eastern, and Brazilian cuisines.

Growing parsley root is as easy as growing carrots. The original Hamburg variety is still readily available and is the best choice. Since they germinate and mature slowly, they should be direct-seeded in late May. Seed into loosened soil ¼-inch deep in rows 12 to 15 inches apart, with seeds about one inch apart. Since parsley root is notoriously slow to germinate, gently mist the rows every evening until sprouts appear (about ten to fifteen days). Thin the plants to 3 to 4 inches apart. Keep fast-growing weeds away from these slow-growing plants. Throughout the summer you may steal some of the leaves to use like fresh parsley. Harvest in November and then store them near freezing in an open plastic bag until the following spring.

Salsify
 

The Romans loved this luscious white root vegetable and so should we. It is actually a form of lettuce selected for its roots. With the nickname of “oyster plant,” the British credit it with having the flavour of oysters; to me this is quite a reach. I would describe the flavour as something between asparagus and globe artichokes. Proper salsify – Tragopogam porrifolius, “goats beard with seeds that fly in the air” (like dandelion seeds) – has white skin in a conical shape. Scorzonera – Scorzonera hispanica, “Spanish snake grass” – has black skin on a long cylindrical root. These two completely different plants are often misidentified with each other. Nevertheless, both are grown and used in the same way.

Mammoth Sandwich Island salsify was released in the 1860s and remains readily available to this day. Scorzonera was first reported in 1575 in an Aleppo, Syria market. The first commercial variety, Giant Russian, was also released in the 1860s. In classic European cooking, both of these vegetables are peeled, cut into julienned sticks, and then quickly drizzled with white wine vinegar or lemon juice to prevent them from browning. Then these are gently poached in lightly salted water, milk, or white wine. They are then honoured by serving as a separate side dish with a grind of black pepper. Modern chefs have discovered that raw scorzonera has a lovely coconutty flavour and the tender black skins provide for attractive presentations.

Both of these preferred varieties have long cylindrical seeds that should be planted into deeply loosened soil ½-inch deep in rows 12 to 15 inches apart, with seeds about 2 inches apart. For larger-sized roots start in mid-May and thin to 4 to 5 inches apart in early June. Neither attracts any pests but they prefer minimal weed competition. Harvest in November and you can store them near freezing in an open plastic bag until the following spring. Salsify is easy to pull up, but long and brittle scorzonera must be carefully loosened before pulling.