What is Black Salsify - scorzonera - scorsonère

What is Black salsify? Well black salsify really called scorzonera (scorsonère in French).

The two root vegetables are alike in taste and nature, but look different. Both are available from autumn to the beginning of spring. Both can be eaten raw or cooked and both must be peeled.
 

The taste of both is a blend of light artichoke, sweede and asparagus. The french also call it the poor man's asparagus.

SCORZONERA From my neighbour Lullu's garden (Scorzonera hispanica)

The skin of the scorzonera (Scorzonera hispanica) is dark, sometime grey, and often black. It has a cylindrical shape, long and twig like. The flesh is white.

The salsify (Tragopogon porrifolius) belongs to the dandelion family, it is shaped like a carrot, covered by a whitish or yellowish skin, and its little shoots make it look hairy.  The flesh is also white.

SALSIFY (Tragopogon porrifolius)

Choosing scorzonera:
They must be firm and compact which means that they are quite fresh. Avoid them if very large as they may be hollow and fibrous, the skinny one on the other hand won’t give you much to eat!

Preparing scorzonera:
When peeled the scorzonera produces a sticky and staining milky substance, it’s totally normal. I advise you to wear gloves to avoid ending with stained fingers when peeling it.

Wear gloves whilst peeling to avoid stained fingers

Brush and wash the scorzonera in fresh water. Peel then place in lots of fresh water with lemon juice or white vinegar to stop it getting yellowish till needed.

Keeping it peeled and raw:  In plenty of fresh water with lemon or vinegar.

Keep raw in fresh water with lemon juice or vinegar to stop yellowing

Keeping it cooked:  3 to 4 days in an airtight container

Keeping it raw: In the fridge if fresh raw and unpeeled wrap it in a paper bag up to 5 days. Keep it too long and it’ll become hollow. Never wash or peel ahead if you intend to keep it for another day as it would spoil.

In the cellar: (One of the perks of living In Burgundy is having your own little vaulted wine cellar). If you have a cellar keep them in sand as soon as hand-picked, trim the leafy part and pop into a sandbox and I’ll keep up to 2 event 3 months.

Eating it raw: The young roots can be shredded and seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Freezing it: To freeze it you must first plunge it 5 minutes in boiling water with vinegar or lemon juice. Pat dry and freeze. You can freeze up to 6 months, afterward it is still edible but will gradually become porous.

Cooking it in water:  Add some lemon or vinegar to the cooking water to stop yellowing. If the centre is hollow increase cooking time, if it is fibrous, remove this part. 10 to 30 minutes depending on the size and freshness.

Eating it cooked: mashed, stir fried, baked it in a gratin, roasted it with olive oil and garlic, made it into a soup or added to a stew… Pan fried in butter and sprinkled with flat leaf parsley…

If your digestion is delicate and to avoid flatulences with vegetables such as those : add a few peeled uncooked potatoes to the cooking water, it helps.