Equal Rights for Vegetables?

Troy Kotsur is an American actor. His supporting role in the film CODA earned him a number of accolades including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award.

In the hospitality business the award for best supporting role in a restaurant doesn't go to the Maitre D', the front of house ying to the head chef's yang but rather to the vegetable, which has successfully played second fiddle to meat and fish since the inception of the restaurant.

Creamed spinach might well be delicious on its own but its true vocation is alongside a tranche of line caught salmon isn't it? The cauliflower often spends it’s time pureed accompanying scallops, an artichoke heart can really enhance a rack of lamb. We all like a bit of veg of course, but only if accompanied by a very large hunk of protein. We are constantly bombarded by the “eat more veg”, “5 a day lobby. They may have more success with this message if Chef’s would only lavish as much of their attention on vegetables, wild herbs, berries, plants and seeds as they do on meat and fish. It needs effort and creativity to elevate vegetables from the status of side orders.

From its opening in the early 1980s The Market Restaurant attracted an eclectic mix of guests. One third of the menu was vegetarian friendly right from the beginning and our most popular vegetarian dish, returning to menus time after time, as a result of guest demand was Parsnips Molly Parkin, quite a simple dish and easy to recreate at home!

Flamboyant Molly Parkin a Welsh painter, novelist and journalist, became almost infamous for her sexploits in the 1960s. She gained notoriety for her outrageous dress sense, an addiction to alcohol and a love life as colourful as her wardrobe. In her twenties, she started an affair with the film star James Robertson Justice, 30 years her senior.

Through most of her adult life, she favoured men who were bon viveurs. The type who have distended bellies and avaricious appetites that denote a true love of life.

Among others, both the Rumpole author John Mortimer and jazz singer George Melly fell into her "favourite" category. It is alleged that she loathed the sweet taste of parsnips so a chef friend came up with this dish where the sweetness of the parsnips is perfectly balanced by the acidity of the tomatoes. So here reproduced from my Market Restaurant Cookbook is the recipe.

Parsnips Molly Parkin

You will need the following ingredients:

2 large parsnip - sliced very thinly

3 medium tomatoes - sliced (I used cherry tomatoes which I simply halved)

12oz grated strong cheddar cheese

1 pint double cream

3 slices of bread (crumbed)

a few pinches of sugar (each layer)

salt and pepper

fresh rosemary

Peel the parsnips, cut away and discard any hard, central core and thinly slice them. Then skin the tomatoes and remove the seeds, cutting the flesh into slices. Heat the oil in a pan and lightly fry the parsnips for 4 minutes.

Grease a casserole dish with half the butter and place a layer of parsnips over the base. Sprinkle these with a little sugar, salt and freshly ground pepper and then add a little cream. Now cover with a layer of tomatoes. Spread a little more cream and then sprinkle the grated cheese over the tomatoes.

Repeat these layers until all the ingredients are used up, finishing off with cream and cheese. Top with the breadcrumbs and dot with the remaining butter.

Cook the parsnip casserole for 40 minutes in the centre of a preheated oven at 325 F/160°C or gas mark 3.

Serve with salad and some fresh crusty bread.