Turnip Time

Sweet and tender roots are ready for autumn harvest.  For most of the growing season they are invisible, save for vines or leafy tops.  Now, before the frosts begin, we have the pleasure of reaching down, loosening the grip of the still warm and fragrant soil, and drawing out these hidden treasures.   

Dependable and durable, roots keep a long time after being harvested.  They can be stored and enjoyed well into the winter, giving flavor as well as substance to hearty cold weather soups and stews.  Staples in every kitchen, the familiar triumvirate of carrots, onions and potatoes are almost a stew in themselves.  And who doesn't love to have a bouquet of scarlet radishes waiting on the counter, ready to add some texture and just a little heat to salads?  Beets, earthy of flavor and glorious of color, have become quite trendy, enjoying a culinary renaissance just as kale did a few years back.  But the queen of all the roots, the beautiful and graceful turnip, is somehow sadly overlooked.

Heat tolerant and cold hardy, turnips are grown in nearly every climate.  Cultures on every continent include turnips in their cuisines. But here in the U.S. turnips are not a vegetable of choice.   Perhaps for a nation of immigrants it is the memory of hard times and limited diet back in the old country that has turned several generations of Americans away from the turnip.

In fact, during the early part of the 20^th century turnips were grown quite extensively in North America.  But they were cultivated as a forage crop for livestock, as the root and the plant were recognized as excellent sources of nutrition.  Considered animal food, the turnip was too humble for the dinner table.   Eventually even the growing of turnips for animals faded since it is a crop that requires a lot of hand labor to harvest and store. 

The back field was planted as a forage crop before it became home to the chicken tractors. *

Turnips are unquestionably a valuable food for animals and humans.  They are packed with Vitamins A and B12, Potassium, Calcium, folates and Omega 3s.  But turnips offer the cook more than nutrition.  Turnips and their larger relative, the rutabaga, are roots of great versatility.  Try turnips raw, sliced very thin or julienned for dipping or in salads. Their flavor is peppery, but a bit milder than most radishes.  And dispense with the hassle of peeling, unless a turnip is very large, the tender skin just needs a quick scrub. 

Tiny turnips, plum size or smaller, can be cooked up whole, tops and all.  The green tops, like spinach, mustard, and other greens are a high nutrition food. Boil bite size chunks of larger turnips until fork tender and serve simply with butter, salt and pepper.  You can go a step further and mash them.   Boiled mashed turnips and potatoes is the classic Scottish 'neeps and tatties.'  Or puree them smooth to create a great soup base.  

Roasted or oven baked turnip slices offer amazing caramelized sweetness, and turnips liven up a medley of sauteed autumn roots.  Raw turnip slices bathed in a vinegar and sugar brine become a crisp pickled compliment to rich, savory stews.  Turnip gratin, turnip risotto, turnips braised with apples and onions, turnips in curry, and borscht, and slaw, turnips turn up in recipes from round the globe.  

Is it not time to celebrate the turnip: the beautiful turnip, pure white or golden, sometimes with shoulders purpled by the sun; the graceful turnip, whose form is found in Byzantine domes as well as spinning tops; the steadfast turnip waiting to be rediscovered and invited to the feast?

* See  4/14/14 post about chicken tractors.