tablespoonful of salt.
_Mode_.--Wash the parsnips, scrape them thoroughly, and, with the point
of the knife, remove any black specks about them, and, should they be
very large, cut the thick part into quarters. Put them into a saucepan
of boiling water salted in the above proportion, boil them rapidly until
tender, which may be ascertained by thrusting a fork in them; take them
up, drain them, and serve in a vegetable-dish. This vegetable is usually
served with salt fish, boiled pork, or boiled beef: when sent to table
with the latter, a few should be placed alternately with carrots round
the dish, as a garnish.
_Time_.--Large parsnips, 1 to 1-1/2 hour; small ones, 1/2 to 1 hour.
_Average cost_, 1d. each.
_Sufficient_.--Allow 1 for each person.
_Seasonable_ from October to May.
[Illustration: THE PARSNIP.]
THE PARSNIP.--This vegetable is found wild in meadows all over
Europe, and, in England, is met with very frequently on dry
banks in a chalky soil. In its wild state, the root is white,
mucilaginous, aromatic, and sweet, with some degree of acrimony:
when old, it has been known to cause vertigo. Willis relates
that a whole family fell into delirium from having eaten of its
roots, and cattle never touch it in its wild state. In domestic
economy the parsnip is much used, and is found to be a highly
nutritious vegetable. In times of scarcity, an excellent bread
has been made from the roots, and they also furnish an excellent
wine, resembling the malmsey of Madeira and the Canaries: a
spirit is also obtained from them in as great quantities as from
carrots. The composition of the parsnip-root has been found to
be 79.4 of water, 0.9 starch and fibre, 6.1 gum, 5.5 sugar, and
2.1 of albumen.
BOILED GREEN PEAS.