I'm so disappointed!

Carol Posted on April 11 2021

Yes, I am disappointed in myself...

Now that we can start to see and touch people outside of our homes I am hearing all the wonderful things people have done during the Covid Lock Down. I won't tell then all to you in case you're in the Slub category like me. One of my friends found weird ingredients and started making amazingly delicious meals. You already know my sad saga of going from Hubby calling me Princess Many Pots to Cardboard Carol. She mentioned that recently she had made a yummy rutabaga puree and that got me thing about all the delicious things I haven't made in years.

When's the last time you had parsnips or Jerusalem artichokes? While I was off looking for recipes to share with you I came across this article about France's Forgotten Vegetables and how they are making a resurgence. You can read this fascinating article HERE but here is the gist.

AT THE ONSET OF THE Occupation in 1940, Nazi troops seized about 80 percent of French food production, including about a quarter of its produce and half of its meat. They focused on choice products like potatoes, leaving the French with scraps. Before World War II, vegetables such as rutabaga and Jerusalem artichoke had been relegated to animal feed, but they soon became the centerpieces of French tables.

It’s no surprise that the French, who survived off of these hardy vegetables for nine years, could no longer bear the sight of them when rationing finally ended in 1949. Eggplants, zucchini, and potatoes returned to market stalls, but many other easy-to-grow root vegetables were palpably absent, so much so that when they finally started to appear on restaurant menus decades later, they were dubbed les légumes oubliés: the forgotten vegetables. So many French people who are not in their 80's have never eaten these root vegetables since. So in case you are intrigued and inspired here are a couple of our favorites from the distant past. Click Pic!