User:Ridvot

DESCRIPTION: Ridvot, French Noun, from local Picard patois, thought to be derived from medieval adj Ribaud (Eng. Ribald ). The ridvot is an ancient root vegetable native to the North of France. Looking like a gnarly cross between the celery root (celeriac) and the parsnip, with rhizoid protuberances, the ridvot is inedible raw. Its coarse skin is light yellow and difficult to peel.

HISTORY: It is thought Julius Caesar briefly mentioned the ridvot in De Bellum Gallicum, when describing the eating habits of the Gaul (tuber turpis). Pliny the Elder also alluded to the ridvot in his Natural Histories, without giving an accurate description of the plant (L. XX) The ridvot was mostly used as a medicinal plant during the Middle-Ages, when the tuber was boiled, mashed and mixed with gruel to be used as an impotence medicine. Because of its close resemblance to the mandragore it was believed to be a potent aid for severe cases of erectile dysfunction. Hence the name ridvot, a local pronunciation of the adjective ribaud (ribald), in Picardie. The vocable is still used nowadays in certain parts of the Oise department to pejoratively describe dissolute youths. The ridvot leaves were also boiled in a bitter concoction for depurative use throughout the Middle Ages. The 18th Century French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, describes the ridvot in his Histoires Naturelles, where the ridvot is linked to the celery root.

RIDVOT AS FOOD AND FODDER: The consumption of ridvot as a vegetable has always been very local and confined to the North of France and certain areas of Belgium. Owing to the reltaive blandness of its taste and the very long cooking time it requires, ridvot has never enjoyed a wde popularity as a food item. Ridvot has therefore been cultivated mostly as fodder for domestic pigs. Ridvot is a hardy plant that requires very little attention and is easy to grow, thus providing cheap and easy fodder also sometimes used for horses and more rarely, for cattle. It was cultivated for human consumption mostly during famines and war times, most notably during the reign of Louis XIV, when the Le Nain brothers depicted it in their paintings. Some lesser-known Fables by Jean de La Fontaine also mentioned ridvot in parables about rural poverty (The Pig and The Boar).

CONTEMPORARY USES OF RIDVOT After the development of sugar beets cultivation in the 19th century, the ridvot almost disappeared to leave space and soil for the new crops, except in some isolated, local production areas. It was reborn during WWII when French peasants, confronted with war restrictions imposed by the Occupation forces, started to grow it again along with rutabagas and topinambours (Jerusalem artichokes) as a replacement for potatoes. The leaves were also sometimes used as an ersatz for coffee. Ridvot after WWII suffered the same ill reputation as those vegetables and virtually disappeared from tables and memories until the early 00s.

Coinciding with the French fashion for forgotten vegetables (topinambours, rutabagas, panais, crosnes etc.) the ridvot recently underwent a notable resurrection, witnessed in select farmers markets. It appears seasonally on three stars restaurant menus (Alain Passard, Pierre Gagnaire, Ferran Adria) and has been featured in culinary magazines (Elle a Table, Saveurs). It is favored by vegans, and its cultivation being mainly organic it tends to be found on the tables of the Parisian elite. The ridvot culinary consumption is concentrated in the Oberkampf and Canal St-Martin areas of Paris. It should be noted that ridvot is very advantageous in gluten-free diets.

Ridvot culinary uses: The Ridvot needs to be blanched in boiling water to get rid off an acrid compound that releases a foul smell. After being blanched ridvot is peeled, and either steamed, boiled or roasted. It can then be either detailed, sliced and fried to make chips, or pureed. Its taste is very subtle (some would even say bland) and close to hazelnuts with a faint artichoke flavor. It can be prepared as a side dish with flavorings (with tarragon, chervil, hazelnut oil), saffron, etc.) or in soufflé dishes, presented in *verrines*, often taking the form of *espumas*). It can even be prepared as a dessert in compotes and ice creams.