parsnip

\PAHR-snip\

noun

: a Eurasian biennial herb (Pastinaca sativa) of the carrot family with large pinnate leaves and yellow flowers that is cultivated for its long tapered edible root which is cooked as a vegetable; also : the root

mirriam-webster has foiled me again! i don't cook with PARSNIPS, nor do i think i could identify one in a lineup. i think it's time i had a little talk with myself about my experiences with root vegetables, which are limited at best.

carrots

they make pretty frequent appearances in my cooking. sometimes i eat them as is. when my mother used to make chicken soup, she had this strange custom in which she would drain out all the stock and then pour all the veges and chicken pieces out onto layers of newspaper that she had spread out on the linoleum tiles. at this point i would run into the kitchen and begin to grab and eat all of the cooked carrots out of the pile destined for the trash. it was the texture i loved, i still love.

potatoes

1) baked - my favorite way: topped with cheddar, salsa, broccoli, and black beans. my mother used to make twice-baked potatoes on a regular basis. my brother heath can eat at least 6 of them without blinking. i really liked eating the skins she would cut off to unearth the insides.

2) mashed - it took some time for mashed to make it to our thanksgiving menu. i think i had them at a friend's house and then felt obligated to bring their joy into my own sphere. i still don't understand the flakes. how? HOW?

3) french fried - the best fries i've had were at a place called julian's in providence that i loathed. it was way too hip for its own good. tim would make me go there to socialize sometimes. a nightmare. delicious fries, though. spicy. crispy. i will give them that.

the daikon

i just have to give the daikon some attention because of its glorious name. the first time i heard this word was recently, within the last couple years, working at whole foods. there was a strange vegetable lingering on brody's produce cart:

what's that?

it's a daikon.

a daikon? (laughter) how is that spelled?

D-A-I-K-O-N.

haHA! it sounds like the name of some big corporation—This message has been brought to you by Daikon Industries.

i have never eaten a daikon.

parsnips

today is the day. when i go into work, i'm going to seek out a parsnip and really spend a good minute or two with it, try to figure out what makes it tick. what are you all about. what's your story?

tell me. from the beginning.