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question about turnips

10 years ago

I have used large turnips in soups and we like them. DS cooked dinner for his dad's birthday this weekend. Root vegetables and beef short ribs in a wonderful broth/gravy. The turnips were about an inch in diameter and tasted rather strong, the strongest I have ever eaten. My question is--did they taste strong because they were so small?

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Comments (7)

marygailv
10 years ago
Maybe it was a rutabaga? When my SO was living we always had "discussions" about this because he called rutabags turnips (he was from IL, I was from WI - maybe they did it differently there?) and I differentiated between the two. Although, come to think of it, a rutabaga is usually more round than a turnip, not smaller.
marygailv
10 years ago
Rutabaga and turnip are both root vegetables, but rutabaga is a result of crossing cabbage and turnip. Rutabaga is commonly called yellow turnip, while turnip is often referred to as white turnip colloquially. Both rutabaga and turnips are used for carving Jack-o-lanterns during Halloween in Britain and Ireland.
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alisande
10 years ago
I've never heard of a one-inch rutabaga. I don't have a definitive answer for you, Sheilajoyce, but I would have suspected it had something to do with their size.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
10 years ago
I do think that the turnips were immature. I have never eaten or even seen any that small. At that size, I don't think that the sugars have had a chance to develop properly.

That size is more like a radish, lol!
threejs
10 years ago
any chance it might have been a parsnip?.........did you actually see the root vegetables before they were cooked....the colour is about the same as a white turnip after being cooked....not saying that it wasn't a turnip but remember a friend trying my beef stew and saying that it was great except for the "nasty carrots" I had not cut them in chunks but just cooked them along with the other veggies. You either love them or hate them...most people I know do not like parsnip but have no problem with turnip or rutabaga even if they are stronger in taste as they blend with the other veggie flavours.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
10 years ago
It would be pretty hard to mistake a parsnip for a turnip, I would think. :-) Carrots, I can see.
threejs
10 years ago
Depends on how you cut up your veggies..if you cut them all the same size it is hard to tell when they are cooked together in a broth or stew, especially if diced or cut in small chunks. There are tiny turnips...most are picked in the spring before they start to get bigger ...especially when you are thinning out your garden but I don't think they have a strong taste to them.

Here is a link that might be useful: tiny turnips

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