I remember my father once trying to bribe me with money to eat some parsnips when I was about 10, $2 he was going to pay me to eat it; but I was not to be bought so cheaply. But for those fellow parsnip haters, and for those who want to try something different I did find a recipe that made them edible.

I don't remember them being a christmas staple in NZ but in England they are a christmas dinner feature. Two years ago I found a recipe in the New York Times Cookbook for James Beard's Pureed Parsnips (PP 236-237) which I made and supplemented the recipe which is basically parsnips, cream, madeira and butter topped with breadcrumbs with the addition of parmesan and proudly ate it up pointing out that I had managed to eat it; my partner said "yes you have achieved a parsnip dish with no taste of parsnip...SUCCESS.