Turn Root Vegetables Into This Sauce
The biggest highlight of my trip to Copenhagen was the filming of a video on the farm and in the kitchen ofRelae , a place that has more than a little sustainability . I learned a lot (you will also learn about this in the next video), including how to make a silky, insanely flavorful, by the way, vegan sauce with root vegetables and vinegar.
The precise character of the restaurant-style coating means that some portions of vegetables do not make it to the plate for aesthetic reasons. Instead of throwing them away, Chef Jonathan Tam turns them into another delicious ingredient. In the case of a nicely laid celery root dish, he takes the less pretty little things, then charred them and mixed them with pear vinegar to create a deliciously balanced sauce. I couldn’t find pear vinegar in any of my neighborhood grocery stores, so I haven’t been able to replicate Chef’s Tam sauce exactly, but I’ve been able to apply this method to some sad looking carrots and parsnips I’m languishing in the refrigerator.
Since I ended up using a more resinous sherry vinegar, I added a little soy sauce to balance everything; you may not need it if you are using sweeter vinegar, so try and tweak to your liking. To make this fried, fatty and hot sauce you will need:
- 450g root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips or celery, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 cup sherry vinegar (or your favorite vinegar)
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
Preheat oven to 400 ℉ and toss vegetables and olive oil in a large bowl so that they are coated. Season with salt and stir again. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake until the vegetables are deep, dark, almost burnt, with very soft insides.
Let them cool for about five minutes, then add them to a powerful blender along with water and vinegar. Whisk until smooth, scraping along the sides of the blender as needed, then taste and adjust with soy sauce or more water (to thin it) if necessary. (If you don’t have a powerful blender, you can use a hand blender and run the sauce through a food mill.) Serve with sautéed meats, vegetables with brown butter, or any fatty food you think would come in handy. silky, bitter sour sauce.