Monday, January 15, 2007

Crazy, Crispy Crosnes

crosnes in their natural French habitat, photo by charleebrown

First, it gave me colorful cauliflower. Then, gonzo spinach. Now the Weiser Family Farm stand at the Hollywood market has dazzled me with crosnes: a tiny bulbous tuber from the mint family.

Crosnes (the french name) or Chorogi (the Japanese name) can be eaten raw or cooked like a potato. I agree with a fellow foodblogger that when chomped raw they're reminiscent of jicama, though not as moist and with a bit of a bitter aftertaste. I sauteed mine in butter, sprinkled with salt and pepper, for about 5 minutes--as they cook the bitterness disappears but the crunch remains.

They aren't cheap--$16/pound. Also, I will admit the shape gives me a tinge of the creeps--they remind me of albino slugs. Definitely worth a taste, however; the Weiser stand is on the north end of the Hollywood market, east side of the street.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

whoa, weird looking! i have never seen or heard of those before. i'll keep my eye open though... my food co-op sometimes stocks weird things

Anonymous said...

Albino slugs? Hell, they look like jumbo maggots!
But they're such fun in your mouth: like a potato with the texture of celery. I hope to find some up my way.

Anonymous said...

They look like big yucky bugs! My kids would adore them! Never heard of them before now but am on a mission to locate some!

Anonymous said...

I saw these at the Pasadena market on Saturday morning...next to the adorable mini cauliflower. Honestly- they do sort of give me the creeps, so I'm glad you reviewed them since now I know they aren't anything to flip out over. Thanks for the info- I think my life can be complete without these little crosnes!!!

Anonymous said...

Cookie--that's an even better description, and yes I like the texture a lot.

Connie and the mommy chef--I think I read somewhere online that speciality foods company Melissa's packages some, so if your local store carries that brand, you could ask

TAG--I have to say, I had crosnes again at Lucques last night and they were a fun accompaniment to the dish, but there were only a few and they were very tiny, so less ugh factor for me.

Anonymous said...

creepy indeed! I saw that photo and thought "ewwwwwwww....you EAT those?!"

Thanks for the enlightenment though. It's nice to know someone who is really brave with food.

Anonymous said...

Lol. I'm glad I'm not alone. Slug veggies on toast, anyone?

Anonymous said...

If you ever wander where tumeric spice came from, actually, the raw tumeric looked exactly like that, except the color. eww..

Anonymous said...

They look alarmingly like this delicacy - do *not* click if you're at all squeamish :)

Anonymous said...

SO THAT'S what they are -- I had some at Opus in a tasting menu, asked the server to repeat the name 3 times to no avail of my understanding. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I finally tasted these! They are so weird looking (but good with butter and salt like almost everything else in the world).

Anonymous said...

I bought a bunch at the Pasadena farmer's market this weekend, since I can't resist anything new! They are actually quite delicious, even raw. It's good to see new, interesting veggies - good for genetic diversity, good for keeping us from being bored! Definitely fun for kids, but also grownups. :) Do try them.

Christina said...

Hooray! An LA food blog with beautiful photos, great ideas, and a passion for local food. I'm all about that.

Aren't the Weisers awesome?

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