salsify

American  

[sal-suh-fee] / ˈsæl sə fi /

noun

plural

salsifies

1. a purple-flowered, composite plant, Tragopogon porrifolius, whose root has an oyster-like flavor and is used as a culinary vegetable.

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salsify British  

/ ˈsælsɪfɪ /

noun

1. Also called: oyster plant.   vegetable oyster.  a Mediterranean plant, Tragopogon porrifolius, having grasslike leaves, purple flower heads, and a long white edible taproot: family Asteraceae (composites)

2. the root of this plant, which tastes of oysters and is eaten as a vegetable

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Etymology

Origin of salsify

1690–1700; < French salsifis, variant of sassefy, sassef ( r ) ique < Italian sassef ( r ) ica ) < ?

Example Sentences

There is nothing in L.A. remotely like his salad of wild-caught Burgundy snails, his duck breast with salsify, or his spectacular, saffron-intensive take on the Provençal fish stew bourride.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 31, 2017

Also blinis with caviar, made to order on a spirit stove, salad of salsify and chopped egg, custard tart, Billecart-Salmon rosé.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 27, 2017

He plated a lamb dish as playfully as a deconstructed dessert, with shiny, jet-black shards inserted upright amid tender salsify and dollops of leek puree.

From Washington Post • Feb. 5, 2017

Another dish on offer at L'Enclume is this: "Rare breed pork and crispy skin, salsify, onions and hedge garlic".

From The Guardian • Sep. 28, 2012

Then it was spinach, followed by kohlrabi, salsify, cucumbers, tomatoes, sauerkraut, etc., etc.

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank