The only thing I could find about rutabagas was more amusing than
encouraging, but full of useful info:
". . . in Scotland when people talk of neeps, bashed neeps with haggis, they
mean swedes. The yellowish-orange roots first developed it seems in the 17th
centrury in Bohemia, that came to us via Sweden in 1781. No doubt the new
roots' hardy ability to survive in the ground all witer made it a welcome
vegetable to northerners. It usurped the place, even the name of the older
white-rooted turnip in Scotland. . . . More confusion, swede is sometimes
known, especially in America by the Swedish diaclect name of _rotbagga,_
ram's root, anglicized to rutabaga.
Although a number of recipes are interchangeable between turnip and swede,
remember that the flavours or the two roots are different. The swede tastes
far coarser than a young summer turnip and would not partner d*ck or h*m
companionably. As a vehicle for b*tter, with haggis and whisky, it is
exactly right. But after a north country upbringing, I conclude that
otherwise swede is a vegetable to be avoided. The watery orange slush of
school dinners was unredeeemed by drainage or b*tter."
_Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book_Penguin, newly reprinted from 1979 (I
bought it in England but you could probably order it): Needless to say, her
recipes are anything but FF, but I'm enjoying the book anyway. If I ever see
a rutabaga I'll try one of the recipes.
Judith
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