I did not know salsify until I moved to Belgium. I was seeing it at the market or in the organic shops during the winter season, but I always wondered what that was. It seemed very difficult to clean and I had no idea how to cook it.  Then by watching cooking shows like the French Topchef, I noticed that they were using it quite often and it seemed to be delicious and suitable for a variety of preparations. I started to look for information on the web and found out that not only it was delicious, but also very healthy and useful for liver and gallbladder detoxing.

Recently I saw a picture of this salsify dish by Damien Brunet, a well known chef in Brussels, and decided to make my own plant-based version. It's a bit different than the original, but still quite tasty and I might use it as a warm appetizer for my Christmas lunch.

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For the salsify

6-7  salsify roots

½ glass white wine

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Pepper

1 lemon

Peel the salsify and wash it well. Cut it in 10-15 cm pieces and put them in a bowl with water and lemon to avoid that they darken.

In a pan heat 1 tablespoon olive oil, add the salsify and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add half glass white wine and let it evaporate. Add salt and pepper and continue to cook for around 10 minutes stirring often. Once the roots are al dente, remove from fire and keep warm

 

For the seaweed cream

5 g dulse

300 ml oat milk

A handful salted capers

1 teaspoon assafetida

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon corn starch

Salt

Pepper

Soak the dulse seaweed in water for 30 minutes. Wash the capers to remove the salt. In a pot heat the milk, seaweed and assafetida. Blend with the capers, oil, salt and pepper. Blend the corn starch with a couple of spoon water. Heat the cream again, add the corn starch and stir until the cream becomes slightly thicker.

 

For the mushroom and olive paté

A dozen champignons

1 tablespoons olive paté

A handful walnuts

A pinch of assafetida

Salt

Pepper

Olive oil

Slice the mushrooms finely and sauté them in a pan with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add salt and pepper at your taste. Blend with all the other ingredients.

 

 

To serve put a few tablespoons cream on the dish, add the roots and then a quenelle of paté