THE COOKING OF BOOTS AND TUBERS. 



541 



starch, and for this reason beer and spirits are sometimes prepared 

 from them. Turnips, on the other hand, are very poor in nutrition/ 

 being nearly all water, with no actual starch; but they possess an 

 excellent flavour, especially when young. Swedes, a variety of turnip, 

 are rather more nutritious, but are too coarse in flavour for popular 

 acceptance amongst any but the lower classes. The turnip is a par- 

 ticularly useful vegetable, as not only the root, but the green shoots 

 above ground, popularly known as turnip-tops, are also eaten. 



Beetroots are rich in sugar. There are other varieties besides the 

 common red beetroot seen in this countr}^ — e.g. the pink beet, the 

 German yellow beet, and the Russian white beet, which is the richest 

 in sugar of them all. It is said that the Greeks had a great liking 

 for the beetroot, and also ate the leaves, baked or cooked like spinach. 

 There are three ways of cooking beetroot — (1) boiling in water, 

 (2) baking in the oven, (3) cooking in hot ashes. It is always better 

 to roast beetroots than to boil them, as, by so doing, less of the delicate 

 flavour is dissipated. The Jerusalem artichoke is another well-known 

 English root, or rather tuber, vegetable. It contains no starch, 

 and for this reason does not cook mealy like potatos. The place of 

 starch is taken by a soluble substance called inulin. It easily becomes 

 discoloured, and consequently needs an acid in the rinsing and cooking 

 water in order to preserve its whiteness. In flavour this artichoke 

 has a marked resemblance to the green or globe artichoke. The onion, 

 homely but wholesome — which is really a bulb, not a root-— with its 

 allies of leeks, shallots, chives, and garlic, is perhaps the most valuable 

 of our English " root " vegetables, not only from a dietetic, but from a 

 medicinal point of view. Its strong smell and taste are due to a pungent 

 volatile oil contained in little sacs or cells distributed over the surface. 

 Either boiled or raw, onions are a wonderful remedy for skin diseases. 

 Eaten the last thing at night, they are a certain antidote for sleepless- 

 ness and also a gentle aperient. Spring onions are worth their weight 

 in gold so far as their medicinal qualities are concerned, whilst 

 onion-porridge is an old-fashioned but sure remedy for a cold in the 

 head. 



A few years ago the roots and tubers we have hitherto been con- 

 sidering, together with a monotonous selection of ' * greenstuff, ' ' formed 

 the sum-total of the greengrocer's stall during the winter months for 

 all but thfe tables of the wealthy. To-day, however, improved methods 

 of vegetable cultivation and increased trading enterprise have supple- 

 mented this meagre list with a number of new root-vegetables, the 

 possessors of strange names, but withal excellent eating. Salsify, for 

 instance, when seen for the first time, might possibly be dismissed as 

 a sort of inferior parsnip, but those who know it are well aware that 

 it is a far rarer vegetable, with a dehcious and distinct flavour of its 

 own, resembling oysters. For this reason it is sometimes nicknamed, 

 " oyster plant." There are many ways of preparing salsify roots fori 

 the table, and they may be stewed, fried in butter, coated in batter, 

 boiled and served in sauce, scalloped, or made into croquettes. The 



