In trying to revive interest in local produce, Coffey could not have chosen a less glamorous root vegetable. But why do we now look down on the faithful turnip – was it always so unloved?
It’s not clear when turnips were first eaten in Britain, but they didn’t always have a bad reputation. The Old English word neep – a name now only seen in Scotland alongside tatties and haggis – goes back to at least the 10th century, but turnip (“turn-neep”) is only about 500 years old.
Historically, the word “turnip” didn’t only refer to the round purple root, but root vegetables of various shapes, colours and sizes. Sixteenth-century botanist John Gerard was particularly keen on “small turneps”, which he said were much sweeter than the large kind and grown in a village called Hackney outside London.
Around the same time, physician Thomas Moffett was eager to write about the blood red turnips he had eaten in Prague, which were so “delicate” that the emperor himself grew them.
Importing new kinds of fruit and vegetables from Europe was all the rage with the early modern rich, who loved to show off their connections and turnips were no exception. Writers of the time weren’t much interested in where their “ordinary” or “garden” turnips came from, but they were still happy to eat them.
Another botanist, John Parkinson, wrote in 1629 that thanks to their sweetness, turnips were: “much esteemed, and often seen as a dish at good men’s tables”. In response to Coffey, chef Thomasina Miers’ suggested caramelising turnips in butter. This is just the sort of sweet dish turnips were once appreciated for.
Early modern authors also praised their medical uses. Turnips were considered nourishing, restorative and generally good for the body – even if they did sometimes cause wind.
From human to animal fodder
So what took the turnip off “good men’s tables”? Historians Frances Dolan and Mark Overton point to animal feed and crop rotations. Turnips have been used to feed animals since antiquity, although Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder stressed that they were just as good for human consumption.
Even as Gerard praised his Hackney turnips, he also noted that “poore people in Wales” were forced to eat them raw in times of hardship. Up to this point, the root could be both the food of the rich and the poor. But from the end of the 17th century, growing winter turnips to feed livestock became more common and systematic crops rotations started to take off, which used turnips as one of the main nutrient providing plants.
Rotting turnips could feed animals and make great compost, but this didn’t exactly endear them to aristocrats. At the same time, new root vegetables were coming in from the Americas, with potatoes and sweet potatoes proving very popular.
Other now obscure but once favoured root vegetables – skirrets and eryngoes – gradually fell out of British diets and parsnips and carrots were used less in sweet dishes partially thanks to the rapid increase in sugar production.
The global food chains that are at the heart of our current salad shortages mean that British consumers no longer need to eat (or individually produce) crops like turnips out of necessity.
It’s not surprising turnips couldn’t quite stand up to the huge changes in agriculture and food choice over the last three centuries. What their history does show, however, is that they have managed to survive despite it all, even if today’s consumers today aren’t really sure what to do with them.
However, in some dialects of British English the two vegetables have overlapping or reversed names: in the north of England and Scotland, the larger, yellow variety may be called "yellow turnip" or "neep", while the smaller white variety are called "swede" or "white turnip".
It's not clear when turnips were first eaten in Britain, but they didn't always have a bad reputation. The Old English word neep – a name now only seen in Scotland alongside tatties and haggis – goes back to at least the 10th century, but turnip (“turn-neep”) is only about 500 years old.
French explorer Jacques Cartier is credited for bringing turnip to America in 1541. Turnip is a biennial plant. It grows a large storage (overwintering) root during the first year. In the second year, it flowers, bears seeds and dies.
Turnips are in season in the summer.The bulb portion of turnips is a good source of vitamin C, and the greens contain folate, calcium and vitamin E. Large turnips were used to carve Jack-O-Lanterns prior to the pumpkin. The roots, stems and leaves of a turnip are all edible.
In the United States, the smaller white vegetables are called turnips, while the larger yellow ones are referred to as rutabagas, a borrowing from Swedish rotabagge (a dialectal word from Västergötland). In most of England, turnips are the same, while the larger yellow ones are referred to as swedes.
Most of us think of neep as being the Scots word for turnip and indeed it is both the more common word and much the older word for turnip. Tumshie only put in an appearance in the twentieth century while neep is centuries older.
Is it a turnip or a swede? That largely depends on where in the world you are. In Ireland, the chunky, purple and orange root vegetables are commonly known as turnips, and in Scotland they are neeps.
China is the runaway global leader in production of carrots and turnips. These root vegetable crops list among the world's most important farm commodities. Carrots and turnips are two of the most important horticultural crops worldwide.
Boosts immunity: Rich in vitamin C, turnips help strengthen the immune system and protect against infections. Aids digestion: High in fiber, turnips promote healthy digestion and prevent constipation. Supports bone health: Turnips contain calcium and vitamin K, essential nutrients for maintaining strong bones.
The slaves of the plantations were given the leftover food from the plantation kitchen. Some of this food consisted of the tops of turnips and other greens. Ham hocks and pig's feet were also given to the slaves.
Turnip may be used in case of diabetes. Turnip contains several constituents like quercetin, indole, alkaloids, etc. These constituents may be responsible for the anti-diabetic activity of turnip. A study on mice showed that turnip might show its anti-diabetic activity against type-2 diabetes.
Rutabagas are also generally much larger than turnips. So for a quick rule of thumb, the brownish-yellowish ones are rutabagas, and the smaller white and purple ones are turnips. In terms of their flavor, rutabagas are slightly sweeter-tasting than turnips whereas turnips have a slightly more radishy flavor.
Turnips are a healthy alternative to potatoes; they're lower in calories and have fewer carbs. Smaller, sweeter turnips can be sliced into wedges and eaten raw like an apple.
While more common in Europe and Asia, these vegetables and their greens are often overlooked in the U.S., except for certain regional recipes (in the South, for example, turnip greens take their place alongside collards as a cultural icon).
The 3 varieties grown at Early Morning are, Hakurei Turnips, Pink Turnips, and Purple Top Turnips. The different varieties of turnips vary in taste, Hakurei Turnips are mild and sweet tasting, pink turnips a bit spicier, and the purple top turnips are the most spicy and bitter tasting.
In the first century Pliny described long turnips, flat turnips, round turnips. He wrote of turnips under the names rapa and napus. In Middle English this latter term became nepe, naep in Anglo-Saxon. One of these words, together with turn ("made round"), became our common word "turnip."
A member of the cabbage family, the swede is often confused with the turnip, though they look quite different. It's also known as yellow turnip, Swedish turnip and Russian turnip and, in America, rutabaga. In Scotland, where it's known as neeps, swede is the traditional accompaniment to haggis on Burns Night.
Introduction: My name is Van Hayes, I am a thankful, friendly, smiling, calm, powerful, fine, enthusiastic person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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