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Forgotten vegetables
http://www.oldcook.com/en/forgotten_vegetables.htm

This page is about some vegetables, which have been known in Europe since
the 17th, 18th or 19th century, and let down and forgotten afterwards.

Who's forgotten what? Which vegetables have we forgotten?

This non exhaustive list is only about vegetables other than the medieval
vegetables. Parsnip, orache or rampion for instance, which were known in
the Middle Ages and later let down and forgotten, are not on this page.
In 1986, François Couplan, a specialist about edible plants, published a
list of 41 "forgotten" vegetables in France. Neither salsify nor scorzonera
are on it, but Couplan put dandelion, broccoli and cardoon on his list.
This is to say how dependent on the time, region or social class the
forgotten vegetables are!

The list would surprise a rural Frenchman, who regularly picks dandelion
and fixes the leaves into a salad, but are there that many city dwellers
today, capable of recognizing dandelion from other weeds in a field?
Broccoli, just as well, was practically unknown in France in the nineteen
eighties but is found in abundance in these millennium years. And cardoon
is in fact little known but nevertheless found in many gardens and in the
local markets between Lyons and Avignon.

Some people, who were young in the nineteen fifties, have eaten salsify or
crosne (i.e. Chinese artichoke). The older people have bad memories of
rutabaga or topinambur (i.e. Jerusalem artichoke), which are associated
with the food restrictions of the Second World War. But the younger ones
would imagine these as vegetables from the Middle Ages!

Actually many forgotten vegetables today rediscovered by the "Nouvelle
Cuisine" aren't that ancient: the oldest hereafter are known in France
since the 17th century. Crosne goes back to the end of the 19th century.
They gradually reappear in gardens; Jerusalem artichoke, in season, is even
found in supermarkets!
.
Forgotten vegetables:

* Rutabaga
* Chinese artichoke or crosne or knotroot
* Salsify
* Scorzonera or black salsify
* Jerusalem artichoke or topinambur

This list does not include the vegetables in Medieval Europe.

- Top of page -
.Rutabaga

Oldcook : forgotten vegetables - rutabaga Rutabaga
Album Vilmorin, planche n°13, 1862

Rutabaga : Cruciferae family, genus Brassiceae campestris
Rutabaga comes from the Swedish word rotbaggar. It is also called swede or
yellow turnip. It has the same leaves as cabbage and the white fleshed
roots of turnip. Its taste is a mix of the two. This biennial plant has
been eaten in France since the end of the 18th century. It is harvested in
October or November. Rutabaga is cattle food today, but, due to its
hardiness, it has been eaten by humans during periods of food restrictions
(notably during the 2nd World War), thus its bad reputation.

An other forgotten vegetable | Top of page
.Chineses artichoke or crosne or knotroot

Chinese artichoke: Mint family, genus Stachys affinis.
It is a slightly sweet tuber with a flavour close to that of salsify or
artichoke. Origin: Japan, Korea, China. Crosne is the French appellation,
after a village in Essonne, where the plant was first cultivated when
introduced in 1882. Chinese artichoke is eaten boiled, steamed, with a
white sauce, with cheese topping, fried or in a salad. It can also be
pickled in vinegar (Chorogi, the Japanese name).

An other forgotten vegetable | Top of page
.Salsify

Oldcook : forgotten vegetables - salsify Purple salsify
Album Vilmorin, planche n°13, 1862

Salsifis : famille des composées, genre Tragopogon porrifolius.
Also called the oyster plant, [purple] salsify is a biennial plant with a
10 to 15 cm long white fleshed root. Origin: Mediterranean Europe and North
of Africa. The name comes from the Italian salsifica. Olivier de Serre
spoke of it in 1600, in the "théâtre d'agriculture et mesnage des
champs", stating that another root of value had reached their cognizance a
short time ago, that held honorable rank in the garden, the sercifi ...

Salsify is harvested between October and April in regions with mild
climates. Salsify is cooked in water then prepared with a white sauce,
butter, with sauce poulette, with cheese topping or fried in batter.

An other forgotten vegetable | Top of page
.Scorzonera or black salsify

Scorzonera or black salsify: Family Compositae, genus Scorzonera hispanica.
A hardy plant with a black root close to that of salsify. Origin: South of
Europe, Caucasus, South of Siberia. The name comes from the Italian
scorzonera, borrowed from the Catalan escuçonera, a derivative of
escurço that means viper: scorzonera is reputed to heal viper bites. As
salsify, the plant arrived in France from Italy at the start of the 17th
century. Harvested from October to April, scorzonera is prepared like
salsify.

An other forgotten vegetable | Top of page
.Jerusalem artichoke or Topinambur

Oldcook : forgotten vegetables - Jerusalem artichoke or topinambur Drawing
from Janine Bouchut

Topinambur: Family Compositae, genus Helianthus tuberosus.
A tuber plant tasting like artichoke, cultivated like potatoes, but sister
to the sunflower! Origin: Canada, where the Indians grew it. It is also
called sunroot or sunchoke. In English, the plant was first called
Girasole, the Italian word for sunflower, which derived into
“Jerusalem” artichoke. According to professor Mathon, topinambur
arrived in France in 1607. It was erroneously named after a tribe of
Indians from Brazil present in France at the time the tuber was introduced:
these Indian friends of France were the Topinambu (or toupinambaoults
according to Jean de Léry in his 1557 ship’s log in Brazilian land).
This is why topinambur is sometimes said to come from Brazil.

As with rutabaga, the hardy topinambur was a staple food in France during
the Second World War and has thus inherited a bad reputation. Jerusalem
artichoke is eaten like potatoes: cooked in water, with butter, cream,
sauce, cheese topping, fried or fried in batter. It can also be prepared
raw in Remoulade. It is harvested from November to March. But early sunroot
tastes bette.

Translator : Jean-Marc Bulit