Bonsoir and happy Black Salsify Day!

First, some housekeeping. I accidently posted Fig Day on Heliotrope day. Quelle horreur! A million apologies. Heliotrope appears to be used mostly in perfumes for its fragrance. Supposedly it is nicknamed “the cherry pie plant” because it smells like cherry pie. At any rate, I did not make any foods to celebrate Heliotrope Day, but I hope everyone wore something purple. Yesterday was Black Salsify Day and today is Chequer Tree Day. Wikipedia says that chequer trees produce a fruit that is similar to a date, but is rarely eaten these days. I celebrate the chequer tree, but am not cooking a dish using chequer tree fruit.

Black salsify is a root vegetable native to Europe. Wikipedia has it being cultivated in France from 1660 onward. At the grocery store(s), I found no black salsify, but I DID find a root that looked *exactly* like photos of black salsify online. This is a picture of burdock root and this is a picture of black salsify. Allegedly! It is burdock root and the internet says that grocery stores often misidentify it as black salsify. Whether or not that is the case here, I care not! I am using this root and cooking it with a recipe I found from Hugh Fearnely-Whittingstall for black salsify fritters.

Fried Black Salsify 

3 black salsify roots

1 cup of flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup sparkling water

1 red chili, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tbs sugar

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tbs water

oil for frying

Heat a pot of water to boiling.

The dipping sauce here is a homemade sweet chili sauce and it is DELICIOUS. For the sauce, put the chili, garlic, vinegar, sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat until the sugar dissolves. Simmer until syrupy and reserve.

Boil the salsify roots for 5 minutes. Place in an ice bath. Once cool, peel off the skin and cut into coins. Whisk together the flour, salt, egg yolk and sparkling water. Heat a pan of oil for frying to 350 degrees. Dip the salsify coins in the batter and fry until golden brown. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels. Serve with the sweet chili sauce. Enjoy!