Conscious Choice: Rutabaga Stories and Turnip Tales

February 2002 | Cooking with the Seasons

Rutabaga Stories and Turnip Tales

by Terra Brockman

"And so if you are going to the Rootabaga Country you will know when you get there, because the railroad tracks change from straight to zigzag...." — Carl Sandburg, Rootabaga Stories

My grandmother remembers eating nothing but turnips and rutabagas all winter long during much of her life. I can’t remember eating a rutabaga at all during my childhood, but I do remember Carl Sandburg’s Rootabaga Stories, charming tales he told his granddaughter on the front porch swing. I particularly remember how Gimme the Ax and his two children — Please Gimme and Ax Me No Questions — packed up everything they owned and headed off to see the world riding on the Zig-Zag Railroad. The tracks of my own life have been rather zigzagging, so perhaps I have been living in Rootabaga Country all along. But only recently have I discovered rutabagas and turnips as items to fill my stomach as well as my imagination.

These vegetables are some of the oldest cultivated foods; turnips are the elder of the two. Even before the dawn of agriculture, turnips probably sustained early foraging peoples. They were first cultivated by the ancient Sumerians and quickly spread around the world. Paintings in ancient caves in China show prehistoric man eating raw turnips, and later, with the harnessing of fire, eating roasted turnips. Ancient caves in France are decorated with paintings that show turnips being boiled in clay pots.

Called the "potato of ancient cuisines," turnips nourished cattle, hogs, and human beings throughout much of the world throughout much of history. It is perhaps this unfortunate association with animal fodder that has prevented the turnip and the rutabaga from being popular — either at home or at restaurants. Recently, they have been appearing on restaurant tables, disguised in dishes such as root vegetable salads and soups, or eclectic dishes such as "Autumn Galette" or "Yellow Turnips and Crispy Shallots." The last is a perennial favorite on the menu at the Union Square Café in New York City and it is made with rutabagas.

The rutabaga came about when, sometime during the pre-Roman era, a turnip and a cabbage were crossed. The name comes from the Swedish rotabagge, which is why this vegetable is also called a Swedish turnip. Rutabagas have a thin, pale yellow skin and a slightly sweet, firm flesh of the same color. They are good sources of beta carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin C. Turnips generally have a white flesh, but their skins range from flack to scarlet to purple to snow-white, although the only variety you are likely to see in stores is the purple-shouldered white one.

Turnips and rutabagas can be eaten raw in salads or on a vegetable platter. Or they can be prepared in almost any way you’d prepare potatoes: roasted; baked in gratins; steamed, then mashed with cream or milk; or sliced and simmered with butter and herbs. Soups and stews welcome the flavor of a few turnips or rutabagas, and they come into their own when assembled around a piece of roasting meat, cooking along in the juices.

Part of the neglect that rutabagas and turnips have suffered in modern times may stem from the fact that they sustained, almost single-rootedly, many a midwestern family through the long winters of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries. If stored between thirty-two and thirty-five degrees and at a humidity near 90 percent, they will keep well for four to six months — until the first greens of spring.

Although we are no longer dependent on root cellar vegetables, that is no reason to consign these to the dustbin of culinary history. Turnips and rutabagas are rustic, homey, comforting, delicious, and nutritious. So if you haven’t had any lately, seek some out during the still-cold months of late winter and early spring, the perfect time for the comfort of old fashioned soups and stews and their cornerstones, turnips and rutabagas.

In 1898, a monthly magazine, The Table, described the results of a cooking competition for turnips. Here in one long, breathless run-on sentence is the winning recipe, submitted by a Mrs. Burkitt.

Turnips Glazed with Gravy

Pare four or five large turnips, wash and drain them and cut into slices of uniform size, or turn them into a ball or pear shape, dissolve in a deep saucepan as much fresh butter as will cover the bottom of the pan, throw in the turnips and fry until they are lightly browned, drain the butter from them and pour over as much good stock as will cover them, let them simmer gently until they are nearly tender, remove the lid, put the saucepan over a quick fire, and let the sauce boil quickly until it begins to thicken, take the turnips out of the pan, but be careful not to break them, arrange neatly on a dish and pour the gravy over.

Turnip and Onion Gratin

1/2 pound turnips, peeled and grated
1 onion, chopped fine
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/3 cup heavy cream

1. In a bowl toss the turnips and the onion with the cornstarch, quarter-cup of the Parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the mixture to a buttered nine-inch-square baking dish and pat it down.

2. Drizzle the cream evenly over the mixture. Sprinkle the top with the remaining one tablespoon Parmesan, and bake the gratin in the middle of a preheated 375 degrees F. oven for twenty-five to thirty minutes, or until the top is golden. Makes: two servings.

Mashed Turnips and Potatoes with Nutmeg

1-1/2 pounds turnips
1-1/2 pounds potatoes
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1. Cut turnips and potatoes into similar-size chunks and steam or boil until just tender.

2. Heat milk over low heat.

3. Place the cooked vegetables in a large bowl and mash coarsely with a potato masher or fork. Gradually add the hot milk and melted butter as you mash.

4. Season with nutmeg and salt and pepper if desired. Makes six servings as a side dish.

Rutabagas with Carmelized Onions

8 Tablespoons butter
1-3/4 pounds onions, halved, then sliced thin
2 pounds rutabagas, peeled and cut into half- to 3/4-inch pieces
2 Tablespoons honey
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. In heavy large skillet over medium-low heat, melt five tablespoons of the butter. Add onions and sauté until brown, forty minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cook rutabagas in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about twenty minutes. Drain well.

3. Melt the remaining three tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add rutabagas; sauté until heated through, about ten minutes. Drizzle honey over. Gently stir in onions. Season with salt and pepper. Makes four servings.

Hearty Rutabaga, Turnip, and Carrot Soup

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1-1/2 cups chopped leek
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups peeled turnips, cut into half-inch pieces
2 cups peeled rutabagas, cut into half-inch pieces
2 cups peeled potatoes, cut into half-inch pieces
2 cups sliced carrots
3 cups frozen tomatoes (or one 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice)
6 cups vegetable or chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add leek, celery, and garlic, and sauté until vegetables begin to soften, about five minutes. Add turnips, rutabagas, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes with juices and three cups of the broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover, and simmer until vegetables are very tender, about forty-five minutes.

2. If you want a smooth soup, you may transfer the mixture to a food processor and purée to the desired consistency. Return purée to pot. Add the remaining broth; bring to simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and serve. Makes six servings.

Roasted Root Vegetables with Herbs

1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon each of rosemary, sage, and thyme
2 medium potatoes, quartered
2 carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into two-inch-long pieces
2 parsnips, peeled and cut diagonally into two-inch-long pieces
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into one-inch pieces
1 rutabaga, peeled and cut into one-inch pieces
1 turnip, peeled and cut into one-inch pieces
1 large onion, peeled and quartered through root end
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix oil, syrup, garlic, and herbs in a small bowl.

2. Place all remaining ingredients in a heavy roasting pan or on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour the oil mixture over vegetables and toss to coat.

3. Spread the vegetables out in a single layer. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast until tender and golden brown (about one hour) stirring occasionally.

4. Transfer vegetables to a platter and serve immediately. Makes six servings.

Terra Brockman is the director of The Land Connection Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving farmland and promoting small-scale, diversified, organic agriculture in Illinois. Visit www.thelandconnection.org or call 309-965-2407 to learn how to get involved.

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