Wednesday, October 02, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Local chefs suggest giving such vegetables as turnips, parsnips, rutabagas and beets a try

One rule of thumb for cooks is, for top flavor, cook produce when it's in season, even if it's available year-round.

Applying that rule to autumn, now is the best time to serve root vegetables.

Spago in the Forum Shops at Caesars, 3500 Las Vegas Blvd. South, and The Verandah at the Four Seasons, 3960 Las Vegas Blvd. South, are two local restaurants that change their menus seasonally and have added more root veggies of late.

Turnips, parsnips, rutabagas and beets are less used in American kitchens than their popular cousin, the carrot. But all are root vegetables, meaning the plant's root is the edible part.

"Their peak period is in fall. They're pulled out in the fall. They're late harvest. They keep well, so (historically) people would use them in the winter" when fresh produce was absent, explains Richard Luttman, a Four Seasons restaurant chef.

Root vegetables share certain traits. Earthy, strong and pungent are adjectives that recur in conversations with both Luttman and chef David Robins, who is the managing partner of Spago.

But root vegetables don't always get respect. Sometimes they are dismissed as food for "peasants," Robbins admits.

One root in particular, the beet, has gotten a bad name because many Americans know it only in its processed, canned form.

"I feel sorry for those people," Luttman says.

He doesn't like canned beets, either, but knows how delicious they taste roasted.

Saveur, a food magazine, features beets in its current September/October issue. Margo True, the article's author, admits she had carried an anti-beet bias since about age 6, when she first encountered canned beets.

"At restaurants, beets lurked in salads, staining the crisp lettuce and innocent cucumbers with their malevolent, lurid ooze. ... They were mushy and dead-looking, with the sickly sweet smell of a bog," True writes.

But even True sees beets in a better light by the end of her article, after tasting fresh-roasted beets.

Beets and beet bias aside, all root vegetables are tasty when roasted, the two chefs agree.

"Roasting it traps all that flavor inside," Luttman notes.

The process also allows some of the natural sugars to caramelize, heightening the roots' natural sweetness.

For a first try at root vegetables, Luttman suggests a roast preparation of mixed roots.

That is, chop the root veggies of one's choice -- Luttman personally doesn't care much for rutabagas, for example -- into 1-inch cubes. Then, lightly mix them with olive oil and salt and pepper before roasting on a metal sheet in a hot oven, about 375 degrees.

The roasting time will vary with the size and amount of vegetables, but it should take about 30 to 40 minutes, according to Luttman. As with potatoes, a root has cooked enough when a knife slides in easily.

Roasting is not the only way to prepare root vegetables.

They can also be puréed (for use in soups or sauces), mashed like potatoes, fried as chips or braised, Robins points out.

As to pairings of roots with spices and meats, the chefs offer the following insights.

Parsnip is the root vegetable with the "least obtrusive" flavor, in Robins' view. "It can be used kind of universally, like a potato," either as a solo vegetable or with other roots.

Robbins also likes to braise baby beets, that is, simmer them in a little liquid until cooked. After cooling them, he marinates them in a vinaigrette, often with balsamic vinegar. Then he quarters them for a winter salad of arugula and endive, with walnuts.

Root vegetables go well with braised meats, such as osso buco, Robbins says.

Because of root vegetables' strong flavors, Luttman likes best to pair them with game meat. If that is not available, he prefers roots with beef or pork. The flavor may be too overbearing to accompany fish, he warns.

Luttman enjoys seasoning with spices strong enough to stand up to the strong root flavors. Cinnamon and nutmeg are one combination that can work with roots. Indian spices, including curry, also coordinate well.

Apples and winter squash also mix nicely with root vegetables, Luttman points out.

The choice of a wine for a meal depends on more than the vegetable, so Luttman was reluctant to recommend a specific wine pairing for root vegetables. But in general, he suggests going with a sweeter white wine, to play off the roots' sweetness.