Recently I made a beef and stout stew with added parsnips and found that the bitterness in the beer accentuated the bitterness in the parsnips in a distasteful way. Thus it helps to consider other elements in a dish before deciding to add parsnips. However, it is important to keep in mind that they can have more of a bitter edge than carrots, potatoes or turnips, especially if older or if a woody core is not removed. Parsnips are also quite similar to turnips in texture and are easily interchangeable with turnips in recipes. Cooking sources often recommend substituting parsnips for carrots or potatoes in soup, stews, roasts, mashes, and purees. In the culinary world parsnips are often linked to carrots and potatoes. If you are unsure, taste the raw parsnip before continuing with your cooking preparation. Typically, you can tell once you make your first cut if the core seems overly tough and in need of being extracted. Thus, it is recommended that larger parsnips be peeled and that the “woody” core in the middle be cut out before preparing. However, if parsnips have been allowed to grow too big or remain too long in storage, they tend to get woodier and bitter. Young parsnips don’t even need peeling and are considered sweet enough to eat raw, especially grated into salads or used as a crudité vegetable. Indeed, the caramelized nutty sweetness of roasted parsnips is irresistible. Parsnips are best harvested in late fall, after the first frost, at which time the starches are turned into sugars, making the vegetable taste “sweet”. Parsnips were introduced to America by the early European settlers, and while never quite as popular in the US as in other countries, they are becoming a favorite of farm devotees today. Before the popularization of potatoes they were a staple starch, and during the Middle Ages they were more favored than carrots. It is argued that they are actually sweeter than carrots, but they are definitely more fibrous and can be more bitter. However, they are still quite healthful, boasting impressive levels of dietary fiber, potassium, folic acid, vitamin C and calcium. Because they have no beta-carotene, parsnips are white. It may look similar to a carrot and comes from the carrot family, but parsnips are quite a different vegetable.

Taste of parsnips