Scorzonera

Ingredients

• two pounds of Scorzonera
• a quart of boiling salted water
• an ounce of butter
• moistened with milk

Method

1. 1

   Simmer Scorzonera in boiling salted water, then cool and mash.

2. 2

   Cover with breadcrumbs and bake, or puree after boiling and serve garnished.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Mrs. Roundell's Practical cookery book (1898) by Roundell, Charles Mrs, page 248. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

Scorzonera can be dressed in exactly the same way. SCORZONERA. It is a mistake to call Scorzonera black Salsify and to imagine that it is Salsify when two years old. The plants are quite different, although the roots are similar in shape. Scorzonera is a sort of Viper’s Grass, and the name comes from the old French word scorzon and the Catalonian scurzon, a serpent. The Scorzonera Hispanica of our gardens was much used in Spain as a cooling medicine in cases of snake-bite. It is sown in April, and the roots must be taken up in the following November. In America Scorzonera is a favourite vegetable, and is called the Oyster Plant from its taste. English cooks make a great mistake when they scrape and peel Scorzonera raw. This makes the dark roots “ sweat ” and turn black, but if they are simmered in the proportion of two pounds of Scorzonera to a quart of boiling salted water, they peel easily and remain perfectly white. The roots must not be divided before boiling, and it is necessary to try with a wooden skewer when they are done, as metal turns them black. Scoi’zonera is good when boiled, left to cool, mashed with a wooden spoon to a smooth paste and moistened with milk. The fibres are taken out, the Scorzonera covered with bread- crumbs, and baked in the oven. Or Scorzonera can be made into a puree by rubbing it through a sieve after boiling and SCORZONERA 359 served garnished with little bits of the boiled root. Or it can be fried in batter like Salsify. Scorzonera soup is considered to taste like oyster soup. SEAKALE. Seakale should be neatly trimmed, leaving just enough of the stump on each piece to hold the parts together in nicely- sized bundles. Wash each piece very carefully to get rid of all earth or grit. Tie every two or three bundles together. Boil in salted boiling water for twenty minutes. Try with a skewer if the Seakale is perfectly tender. Drain it carefully, remove the strings or tapes, and serve on a hot dish. Do not lay the Seakale on toast, and do not send it up drowned in melted butter. The melted butter should be handed in a boat. Seakale is excellent cold. In this case, sprinkle a very few drops of tarragon vinegar over it, and hand plain cream cold in a cream-jug. Or Seakale can be boiled in milk and water, and served in a very hot dish, with a pat of butter laid upon it at the last moment. Seakale is one of our indigenous English vegetables, and will by no means lend itself to the additions and flavourings of foreign cookery. It is curious that Wm. Salmon, who published his “Herbal” in 1710 (dedicating it to Queen Anne, whose phj’sician he was), should actually pity the “ Several Poor People near the Sea ” who had to eat the wild Seakale. He admits, however, that by much boiling of the young leaves “ the bitter- ness thereof ” was greatly lessened. SORREL. Sorrel ought to be much more used than it is in England, and it is important to cook it as soon as it is picked. Sorrel fades quickly, and if bought from a shop always needs to be revived in water before it is cooked. Sorrel should be washed like Spinach, picked, the stalks nipped off, and it should then be carefully drained, scalded in boiling water, and rubbed through a sieve. Put it back in the saucepan, add a little veal broth, and simmer till the Sorrel is 36° SORREL a smooth puree. Or add an ounce of butter

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.