General Information
Common turnips are made up of edible roots, stems, and leaves. Several stems of the plant sprout from the bulbous root into broad green leaves. The root itself is roughly 3 inches in diameter, two-toned with magenta blushed tops and white bottoms that flow into the bulb’s tapered thin taproot. Often, the taproot is trimmed before being sold in a supermarket. Turnips have a similar flavor and texture to radishes. Their bone white flesh is firm, crunchy succulent, earthy sweet and peppery.
History
The wild turnip, B. rapa, is native to Europe. Its domesticated origins can be found in Assyrian documentation, though most evidence points to the Hellenistic period of Greek civilization (approximately 300 BCE). The turnip may be the single most historically important vegetable of Europe as food for both humans and animals. For hundreds of years, turnips were cultivated primarily as livestock fodder. During World War I, the turnip was even named for the winter of 1916-1917 in Germany. During the “turnip winter”, turnips were no longer simply utilized as feedstock, as German families and soldiers survived on the cold hardy turnips as a substitute for meat and potatoes, which were both extremely scarce. Turnips were used as coffee substitutes, flour substitutes and became the omnipresent ingredient in “war bread.”
