Everything about Rutabaga totally explained
The
swede,
(yellow) turnip or
rutabaga (
Brassica napobrassica, or
Brassica napus var. napobrassica) is a
root vegetable that originated as a cross between the
cabbage and the
turnip. Its leaves can also be eaten as a
leaf vegetable.
The name
"Rutabaga" (from dialectal
Swedish "rotabagge",
root ram) is the common
American English term for the plant, while "swede" (
Swede) is the preferred term used in much of
England,
Wales,
Australia,
New Zealand and
India. In the U.S., the plant is also known as "Swedish turnip" or "yellow turnip", while in
Ireland and
Atlantic Canada, where
turnips are relatively unknown, it's called turnip. In
Scots, it's either "tumshie" or "neep", and the turnip (
Brassica rapa var.
rapa) instead is called a "white turnip". Scots will refer to both types by the generic term "neep" (a contraction of the archaic pronunciation "turneep"). Some will also refer to both types as just "turnip". Scottish people refer to only large roots as turnips.
In North-East England, turnips and swedes/rutabagas are colloquially called "snadgies". They shouldn't be confused with the large beet known as a
mangelwurzel.
Its common name in
Sweden is "kålrot" (cabbage root). In Norway it's also called "kålrot", but often also "kålrabi" (which in Sweden and Denmark means
kohlrabi). In Finnish, it's called "lanttu", which is derived from the Swedish "planta", meaning plant or seedling. (Finland was for many centuries part of the Swedish empire, and rutabaga has to be planted as seedlings due to the short Scandinavian growing season.)
Halloween
Prior to pumpkins being readily available in the UK and Ireland (a relatively recent development), swedes/rutabagas were hollowed out and carved with faces to make lanterns for
Halloween. Often called "jack o'lanterns", or "tumshie lanterns" in Scotland, they were the ancient symbol of a damned soul.
History
Rutabaga was an important nutritional source for many
Finno-Ugric tribes before the introduction of potatoes. Some claim the vegetable is native to Sweden, but others think it was introduced to Sweden, possibly from Finland or Siberia, in the early 17th century. From Sweden, it reached Scotland, and from there it spread to the rest of
Great Britain and to
North America.
In continental
Europe, it acquired a bad reputation during
World War I, when it became a food of last resort. In the
German Steckrübenwinter (rutabaga winter) of
1916–
17, large parts of the population were kept alive on a diet consisting of rutabagas and little else, after grain and potato crop failures had combined with wartime effects. After the war, most people were so tired of rutabagas that they came to be considered "
famine food," and they've retained this reputation to the present day. As a consequence, they're rarely planted in Germany.
Preparation
Finns cook rutabaga in a variety of ways; roasted to be served with meat dishes, as the major ingredient in the ever popular Christmas dish rutabaga casserol ("lanttulaatikko"), as a major flavor enhancer in soups, uncooked and thinly julienned as a side dish or in a salad, baked, or boiled. Finns use rutabaga in most dishes that call for any root vegetable.
Swedes and Norwegians cook rutabagas with
potatoes and
carrots and mash them with
butter and
cream or
milk to create a puree called "rotmos" (root mash) and "kålrot/kålrabistappe" in Swedish and Norwegian, respectively.
Onion is occasionally added. In Norway, kålrabistappe is an obligatory accompaniment to many festive dishes, including
smalahove,
pinnekjøtt and salted
herring.
In Scotland, rutabagas and potatoes are boiled and mashed separately to produce "tatties and neeps" ("tatties" being the Scots word for potatoes), traditionally served with the Scottish national dish of
haggis as the main course of a
Burns supper. Neeps may also be mashed with
potatoes to make
clapshot. Regional variations include the addition of onions to
clapshot in
Orkney. Neeps are also extensively used in soups and stews. In
Yorkshire and
Lincolnshire, swedes are often mashed together with carrots as part of the traditional
Sunday roast.
In
Canada rutabagas are used as filler in foods such as
mincemeat and
Christmas cake, or as a side dish with
Sunday dinner in Atlantic Canada. In the US, rutabagas are mostly eaten as part of
stews or
casseroles, are served mashed with carrots, or baked in a
pasty.
Popular Culture Reference
Rutabaga is repeated over and over again in the chorus of "Call Any Vegetable", a famous song celebrating vegetables by
Frank Zappa
Other
The town of
Cumberland, Wisconsin,
U.S., celebrates a "Rutabaga Festival" each year, always the weekend preceding
Labor Day Weekend. The
International Rutabaga Curling Championship annually takes place at the
Ithaca, NY, farmer's market.
Excessive consumption of rutabaga can be associated with
hypothyroidism. Rutabaga and other cyanoglucoside-containing foods (including cassava, maize, bamboo shoots, sweet potatoes, and lima beans) release cyanide, which is subsequently detoxified into thiocyanate. Thiocyanate inhibits thyroid iodide transport and, at high doses, competes with iodide in the organification process within thyroid tissue.
Goitres may develop when there's a dietary imbalance of thiocyanate-containing food in excess of iodine consumption.
Also "rutabaga" is a term used to describe dirty teenage kids who are up to no good.
The word "rutabaga" is also a technical term for a specific mutation type in
fruit flies that results in impaired mental capacity.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Rutabaga'.
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