Rutabaga: Difference between revisions
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==Activities involving rutabagas== |
==Activities involving rutabagas== |
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Rutabagas are commonly carved into decorative lanterns called [[jack-o'-lantern]]s for the [[Halloween]] season throughout Britain and Ireland. <ref>They continue to be popular choices today as carved lanterns in Scotland and Northern Ireland. "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4385812.stm Pumpkins Passions]", ''BBC'', 31 October 2005. Retrieved on 19 October 2006. "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4383216.stm Turnip battles with pumpkin for Hallowe'en]", ''BBC'', 28 October 2005. Retrieved 23 September 2007.</ref> |
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The International Rutabaga Curling Championship takes place annually at the Ithaca Farmers' Market on the last day of the market season.<ref>http://www.rutabagacurl.com/</ref> |
The International Rutabaga Curling Championship takes place annually at the Ithaca Farmers' Market on the last day of the market season.<ref>http://www.rutabagacurl.com/</ref> |
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Revision as of 22:40, 24 November 2009
- For the Drosophila gene, see Rutabaga (gene).
- For similar vegetables also called "turnip", see Turnip (disambiguation).
| Swede, (Yellow) turnip, Rutabaga | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| (unranked): | |
| (unranked): | |
| (unranked): | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | |
| Species: | B. napobrassica
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| Binomial name | |
| Brassica napobrassica | |
The rutabaga, swede (from Swedish turnip), or yellow turnip (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.
Etymology
"Rutabaga" (from dialectal Swedish rotabagge, literally, "root ram") is the common American and Canadian term for the plant, while "swede" is the preferred term used in much of England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. In the U.S., the plant is also known as "Swedish turnip" or "yellow turnip", while in Ireland, it is referred to as a turnip. The name turnip is also used in parts of Northern and Midland England, Cornwall and Atlantic Canada. In Scots, it is either "tumshie" or "neep",[1] and the turnip (Brassica rapa var. rapa) instead is called a "white turnip". Scots will refer to both types by the generic term "neep" (from Old English næp, Latin napus).[1][2] Some will also refer to both types as just "turnip" (the word is also derived from næp).[2] In North-East England, turnips and swedes are colloquially called "snaggers" (archaic). They should not be confused with the large beet known as a mangelwurzel. Its common name in Sweden is kålrot (literally "cabbage root"), while in Norway it has usurped the name of kålrabi in addition to being known as kålrot.
History
Rutabagas were 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.[citation needed] 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 have retained this reputation to the present day.[citation needed]
Botanical history
The species commonly known as swede or rutabaga has had a rich taxonomic history. The earliest account comes from the Swiss botanist Gaspard Bauhin, who wrote about it in his 1620 Prodromus.[3] Brassica napobrassica was first validly published by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 work Species Plantarum as a variety of B. oleracea: B. oleracea var. napobrassica.[4] It has since been moved to other taxa as a variety, subspecies, or elevated to species rank. In 1768, a Scottish botanist elevated Linnaeus' variety to species rank as Brassica napobrassica in The Gardeners Dictionary, which is the currently accepted name.[5]
Preparation and use
Finns cook swede in a variety of ways; roasted to be served with meat dishes, as the major ingredient in the ever popular Christmas dish Swede casserole ("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 swede in most dishes that call for any root vegetable.
Swedes and Norwegians cook swede 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, raspeball and salted herring. In Wales, a similar dish produced using just potatoes and swede is known as "potch".
In Scotland, swede 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. Swedes have also been used in Scotland and more widely in the UK as a carved out lantern during Halloween.[6] 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 the English counties of 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, served mashed with carrots, or baked in a pasty.
Phytochemistry
Rutabagas 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 is a dietary imbalance of thiocyanate-containing food in excess of iodine consumption and it is possible for these compounds to contribute to hypothyroidism.[7][8][9][10] Yet, there have been no reports of ill effects in humans from the consumption of glucosinolates from normal amounts of Brassica vegetables. Glucosinolate content in Brassica vegetables is estimated to be around one percent of dry matter. These compounds are also responsible for the bitter taste of rutabagas.[11]
Other chemicals that contribute to flavor and odor include glucocheirolin, glucobrassicanapin, glucoberteroin, gluconapoleiferin, and glucoerysolin.[12] Several phytoalexins that aid in defense against plant pathogens have also been isolated from rutabaga, including three novel phytoalexins that were reported in 2004.[13]
Activities involving rutabagas
The International Rutabaga Curling Championship takes place annually at the Ithaca Farmers' Market on the last day of the market season.[14]
See also
References
- ^ a b The Concise Scots Dictionary, Mairi Robinson (editor) (1985)
- ^ a b Chambers English Dictionary (Chambers 1988), ISBN 1-85296-000-0
- ^ Sturtevant, E. L. 1919. Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants. Albany, NY: J. B. Lyon Company, p. 105.
- ^ "Brassica napus rapifera". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
- ^ International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens https://www.ipni.org/n/72249-3. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Baxter, I. A., Schröder, M. J. A., and Bower, J. A. (1999), "The influence of socio-economic background on perceptions of vegetables among Scottish primary school children", Food Quality and Preference, 10: 261–272, doi:10.1016/S0950-3293(98)00042-1
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Olsson, K. and Jeppsson, L. 1984. Undesirable glucosinolates in Brassica vegetables. Acta Hort. (ISHS), 163:83-84.
- ^ Jones, D.A. 1998. Why are so many food plants cyanogenic? Phytochemistry, 47: 155-162.
- ^ Delange F, Iteke FB, Ermans AM. Nutritional factors involved in the goitrogenic action of cassava. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 1982.
- ^ Braverman LE, Utiger RD. Werner and Ingbar's The Thyroid: A Fundamental and Clinical Text, 6th Edition 1991. J.B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pg 371-2.
- ^ Verkerk, R., Schreiner, M., Krumbein, A., Ciska, E., Holst, B., Rowland, I., De Schrijver, R., Hansen, M., Gerhäuser, C., Mithen, R., and Dekker, M. 2009. Glucosinolates in Brassica vegetables: The influence of the food supply chain on intake, bioavailability and human health. Mol. Nutr. Food Res., 53: S219-S265.
- ^ Harborne, J. B., Baxter, H., and Moss, J. P. 1999. Phytochemical dictionary: a handbook of bioactive compounds from plants. Philadelphia, PA: Taylor and Francis, Inc.
- ^ Pedras, M. S. C., Montaut, S., and Suchy, M. 2004. Phytoalexins from the crucifer rutabaga: structures, syntheses, biosyntheses, and antifungal activity. J. Org. Chem., 69: 4471–4476.
- ^ http://www.rutabagacurl.com/