Scorzonera was our new crop this year that we’ve never grown before, and never even tasted before. We were confident that it would be good though as many of the vegetable books rate it very highly and the French and Italians love it. So what is it? Well, it’s a root vegetable which is very easy to grow, can be left in the ground until you need it, seems to have no pests and diseases and which is absolutely delicious to eat. You have to be quite careful digging them up as the roots break very easily, and beneath the dark skin is a creamy white flesh. After scrubbing them, we blanched ours for 3 minutes, peeled them, boiled them for about 10 mins until tender, and then coated them with butter. They were really really tasty. In fact, the whole bowl went in a flash before the rest of the meal was on the table.

The only difficulty that I can see with scorzonera is that the white sap/juice that flows from it is incredibly sticky (I had to wash my hands 3 times before it all came off) which may put some people off. But don’t let it because the flavour is superb, especially when enhanced with a little butter! I can see why some people become evangelical about them. You just want to tell everyone how good it tastes. If you’re looking for something new to try then give scorzonera a go. You won’t be disappointed.

You often find scorzonera and salsify mentioned together. They are indistinguishable in flavour but salsify are paler and narrower whilst scorzonera are darker and thicker.