Parsnip Fritters

One vegetable that thrived in the cold was the parsnip, as ancient Britain learned very early: the parsnip and its cousin the water parsnip, or skirret, figured in the earliest English recipe for a vegetable, a pottage of broccoli rabe (or “rapes”) seethed in a broth with minced onions, saffron, salt, and “powder douce” (powdered sugar). Do likewise, the recipe maker instructed, for parsnips and skirrets. Since parsnips are sweet in themselves and sweetest after the first frost, they were f