For the Germans!

Used to know a chap who lived in Brussels but worked 3 days a week in the UK - he'd take home vast quantities of parsnips because they were only available as animal fodder in Belgium...

(Parsnip soup with curry spices is easy, tasty cold weather food.)

Does Germany have gooseberries? I once spent about an hour trying to explain what a gooseberry was to a French person.

gooseberries are lovely, my grandparents had loads of them in their garden. i think it is quite hard to get fresh ones in a shop though. but actually i have never seen them in the uk either.

i need some more time for parsnip soup- i only just began realizing that parsnips exist at all. we are in a bonding phase...

by the way- it also takes about half an hour to explain what a gooseberry is to alfie. i think that problem is international...

Albino carrots...

The root of all evil...

Salome - in case you still care - une groseille & the green, sharp ones are groseilles à maquereau because they make such a good sauce for mackerel.

yummy 'snips

Germany doesn't have parsnips? Hmm, I'm going in a couple of weeks, do you think I should take some as a cultural offering?

By the way. For particularly delicious roast parsnips.....parboil them (5 mins will do), rough them up in a colander, coat with a little olive oil then toss them in grated parmesan. Now roast. Yum.

gooseberries explained in two words - hairy grapes! When I was a lad in yorkshire, most gardens had at least a couple of goosegog bushes. Parsnips - lovely roasted with honey, though I must try OJ's suggestion, sounds good.

The credit for my parsnip suggestion should go to my friend K, who is an excellent cook and suggested it to me in the first place...

It makes the roasting tin a bit harder to clean but it's worth it.

That's true - you don't see them in shops, do you? Funny.

I can't imagine a life without parsnips...

I love them