I didn’t intend to write a post about this parsnip purée because it didn’t look good – just a pale white mash that you probably don’t know what it is. But this humble winter vegetable changed my mind. It was like talking to me, ‘hey! Don’t you think I’m GREAT?’
When my Mom saw it through our video call, ‘Oh! It’s a white carrot!’ She said. ‘No, they are close relatives, but their tastes is different.’ My Curry Mom’s reaction was similar, ‘it’s like a mooli (daikon)!’ They didn’t know what parsnip was because they had never seen it until the video call.
Parsnip is interesting. I wouldn’t have bought it if I hadn’t had the parsnip soup in a restaurant. It was nutty and unexpectedly sweet, much sweeter than carrot.
‘Do you know parsnip was once treated as a sweetener before cane sugar arrived in Europe?’ No I don’t know, wikipedia.
I tried to cook roast parsnip before, it was great. Parsnip purée, even better. No need to roast, just boil and blend with cream/milk. Much quicker than roasting. And its sweetness? Booooom! That’s why I think parsnip purée is a fantastic match with fried fish.
Ingredients
Serves 2-3
- 300 g parsnip
- 1 tbsp butter
- 100 ml double cream
- a few tbsp of milk
- garlic powder
- salt
- a few sprigs of fresh dill, chopped
How to Make Parsnip Puree
- Cut the parsnip into chunks.
- Boil them in salted water for about 5 minutes, until a fork can pierce through. Then drain. Have a taste test to check the salt level.
- In the same pot, melt the butter and return back the parsnip. Add the cream and garlic powder as well. Sprinkle in more salt if needed.
- Use an immersion blender to blitz it until smooth. You may find it difficult because of not enough liquid. Gradually adding more milk can help. Alternatively, put everything into a blender in which you think the parsnip can be blended smoothly.
- Mix well with the dill. Serve with fried fish instead of mayo.
