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| Black Salsify / Viper's Grass |
Literally translated from the German word as "black root", these black round balls landed in my veggie box for the week! These little guys, about the size of a small beet or turnip, look like someone just forgot to wash them - yet the black coloring is part of the skin, rough and almost net-patterned. This is definitely a vegetable that I've never seen outside of Germany before, let alone in the States. Way to go Germany, with all your root vegetables!
This is supposedly called "Black Salsify" or just "Salsify" or even "Viper's Grass" in English; Scorzonera hispanica is its latin name...anyone heard of it? While they can be eaten raw (has a bit of a spicy bite raw), they are best eaten cooked or steamed and tastes kinda like a mix between radishes and kohlrabi. And you can't forget to peel the tough skin from them before cooking - they are also practically pure white inside! I've seen a variety of this in the store, which was a lot longer and shaped like a carrot - maybe these are round because of the late and cold weather harvest time?
These guys, due to being pretty hard, are robust and can be stored for a long time without going bad. A good and very nutritious winter vegetable, another new one to try! They are best cut and put into a casserole or stew, or in a curry. Or just with some meat and other vegetables in a pan with a finishing cream-type sauce!
CORRECTION (Mar 6, 2013): This vegetable was mislabeled in my CSA box...I was wondering why it was not carrot-shaped like it was in all the pictures I saw. This is because it is the healthy Black Spanish Radish!! My description is still the same, just goes by another name, sorry for the mix-up! :)
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