Dig up your Dahlias when the first hard frosts blacken all their leaves – usually in early November where I live – and give them a good scrub in the sink. For this recipe you will need about 1kg of fresh roots, which roughly equates to those of 1 good sized plant.
Peel the ‘yams’. Unless you are going to cook them straight away, it would be a good idea to dunk them in a bowl of water – just like you would potatoes – to stop them going brown in contact with the air.
Roughly grate the ‘yams’ with the onion & squeeze over the lemon juice. Then wrap all the shavings in a clean tea towel and twist it to squeeze out as much excess water as possible. This concentrates their flavour and gives them a firmer, meatier texture.
Combine the Dahlia & onion mixture in a bowl with the eggs, flour & nutmeg.
Season well with salt and pepper and give the whole lot a good mix to combine. You should end up with a thick, chunky ‘dough’ as pictured below.
Grab small handfuls of the mix and squeeze them between your palms to create little patties – about 10cm in diameter and 1cm thick. Fry them in olive oil over a medium heat in a large frying pan until golden brown.
Serve with a dollop of cream fraiche, a few slivers of smoked salmon, a wedge of lime and a scattering of dill. Winter blues? What winter blues!