BS: Origins: The Rutabaga

Subject: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 21 Apr 08 - 12:40 PM

How come this humble and nourishing root vegetable came to be called by this strange name, on the other side of the ditch?


G


Turnip

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: Deckman
Date: 21 Apr 08 - 12:48 PM

I'm not at all sure if my input will help, but ... when the Swedes immegrated in large numbers to North America, they naturally brought their culture with them. This included the planting of turnips. After a while, so many turnips were growing in large areas of North America that turnips became known as "Swedes." True. I know this because when my Finnish father was a child in Minnisota, his mother would send him to the store to buy "five pounds of Swedes." CHEERS, Bob(deckman)Nelson

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 21 Apr 08 - 12:56 PM

"Growing Swedes
Swede is one of the easiest vegetables to grow and is well-suited to the novice gardener. They also crop over a very long time. This is because they can be left in the soil throughout the winter.

Swede is often confused with turnips but they have several advantages over the turnip. Firstly, they crop much later in the season and swede is well capable of withstanding very hard frosts. In addition, the swede is sweeter and milder.

As the name implies, swede originated from Sweden and they are related to the turnip."

From Gardenaction.co.uk


G

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: mrdux
Date: 21 Apr 08 - 12:59 PM

"rutabaga" appears to be its name in a Swedish dialect (rotabagge, from röt root (from Old Norse röt) + bagge bag, ram) (although in common Swedish, it's called kålrot (cabbage root)). so my guess is that "rutabaga" is what it was called by certain Swedish immigrants to the US and the name stuck.

michael

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: bobad
Date: 21 Apr 08 - 01:06 PM

"Brassica rapa Rapifera group (turnips) are closely related to Chinese cabbage and mustards. It is
a biennial but is cultivated as an annual. It seems to have originated in areas of Europe and
Siberia. It has been cultivated since ancient times. Turnips have a white or yellow fleshed root
generally with a flattened globe shape. The root is less dense than the rutabaga and lacks a neck.
It is also free of secondary roots which occur on the tap root of a rutabaga. The leaves are hairy
and without the wax of a rutabaga. Turnips are sometimes used for fresh or cooked greens.

Brassica napus Napobrassica group (rutabagas) are closely related to cole crops and were an
interspecies hybrid bred in Switzerland (summer turnip x winter white cabbage). The rutabaga
was introduced into England about the end of the 18th century and was called the turnip rooted
cabbage. Both white and yellow fleshed cultivars exist. The rutabaga root consists of both true
root and true stem. The upper portion of the stem forms a neck. This neck distinguishes rutabagas
from turnips. Rutabaga is a Norwegian term for a "Swede'' turnip.

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:VwkRwUS8J6QJ:www.nr.gov.nl.ca/agric/crops/pdf/turnip.pdf+turnip&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=ca&client=firefox-a

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 21 Apr 08 - 01:20 PM

"Rutabaga" is the only word whose use is expressly prohibited on The Mudcat Cafe. There are others that are frowned upon, like "mangelwurzel" and "kohlrabi", but merely typing the word "rutabaga" is grounds for permanent, eternal, and never-ending banishment. You can pretty much say anything else you like, but not "rutabaga".

For that reason, we're glad they're also known as "swedes" or we'd never be able to talk about them at all.

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: GUEST,Jim Dixon
Date: 21 Apr 08 - 02:24 PM

I have lived in St. Paul, Minnesota, for more than 40 years, and I have never heard anyone here call a rutabaga a "Swede". I thought that was British terminology.

In fact, I have rarely heard anyone mention them at all. Who eats them? Nobody I know. I'm not sure I could tell the difference between a rutabaga and a turnip. I'm not sure I want to.

I have no idea what a mangelwurzel is. I infer it's something in the same family, but I have never heard them mentioned in the US.

However, I have eaten turnip greens. I rather like greens: kale, turnip, mustard, collard. I buy them in cans.

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: mrdux
Date: 21 Apr 08 - 02:56 PM

When I was growing up in Chicago -- and there were, and are, a lot of Swedish people in Chicago -- the term "Swede" referred to people named Gustav or Astrid . . . and definitely not to a misshapen root vegetable, which probably would have been viewed as an insult. I'd never heard anyone call it a "Swede" either, until I came across the term in a cookbook a few years ago . . . so when was the R word prohibited? would "yellow turnip" be preferable?

Steamed and mashed with butter and a grating of nutmeg, or roasted and buttered, they're actually pretty tasty, whatever you call them.

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: gnu
Date: 21 Apr 08 - 04:01 PM

Rutabaga is a name for turnips that cost more. Jim... you sound like an Uppity Canadian. They think turnips are cattle feed. Now, I cannot imagine a family get together for a special occasion without boiled turnip on the table. And, any stew or boiled dinner without turnip is just not right.

And, I didn't just fall off the turnip truck. (Common saying here.)

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: Deckman
Date: 21 Apr 08 - 04:33 PM

When I mentioned the story about my Father, in his childhood, knowing them as "swedes", it might help to know that Dad was born in 1908. That was 100 years ago. Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 21 Apr 08 - 04:57 PM

Hah! It appears there are some who doubt the veracity of the "Never say 'Rutabaga'" dictum. Remember Martin Gibson? Said "rutabaga" and he was outta here. Clinton Hammond? Uttered "rutabaga" and nobody's heard from him since. The Shambles? You guessed it. "Rutabaga"!

I, on the other hand, have never said "rutabaga". I always say "swede". If Max wants to ban me, it won't be on account of some root crop.

By the way, a mangelwurzel is a big European sugarbeet. You can say "mangelwurzel" without being banned, but don't say "mangelwurzel" and "sheep" in the same sentence. For example, saying "I find the sight of sheep grazing on mangelwurzels to be ever so erotic!" would be a definite no-no.

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: JennieG
Date: 21 Apr 08 - 05:55 PM

It's not a word used in Ozspeak, we call them turnips. Or if we are trying to be posh, Swedes. For us it's the same vegetable. We never knew there was any difference.

No stew is complete without some. Unless perhaps it's stewed apple.

You notice I am not using the "R" word here.

Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Apr 08 - 06:06 PM

The "R" vegetable is entering several recipes used by chefs at upscale eateries. We (non-Scandahovians out west here) used to regard it as fit only for hog fattening.

In deference to be-wobbleewe-ell's sensibilities, I also will not use that word.

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: mrdux
Date: 21 Apr 08 - 08:00 PM

In the spirit of amity -- and to avoid the harsh penalty of banishment -- I will also do my best refrain from using the R word. In deference to my midwestern friends of Scandinavian descent, though, permit me to call them "yellow turnips" (the roots, not the people).

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: Bill D
Date: 21 Apr 08 - 08:54 PM

Old line I heard once..(maybe 25 years ago)

"75% of all Rutabagas in the US are eaten by Republicans...the rest are thrown away."

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Apr 08 - 09:31 PM

Recipe for the "R" vegetable:

"R" Casserole

4 Swedes
2 tablespoons white sugar
4 carrots
2 tablespoons butter
1/8 cup milk
Peel Swedes and cut into large cubes. Place in cold salted water, and bring to a boil. Do not boil to the point of sogginess. When fork tender, drain.
Mash Swedes with grated carrots, sugar and butter.
Place in oven at low temperature to keep warm. Cover so that the dish will not dry out. If it does, stir in a little milk.

The vegetable can be tough; chopping with a hatchet may be necessary.

After preparation, toss to the hogs and order in Chinese or a pizza.

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: Deckman
Date: 21 Apr 08 - 11:50 PM

In all seriousness ... if you exam the short growing season in the Nordic lands, you'll soon realize that "root vegtables", and rye grains, were just about all they could grow. My Finnish family suffered from that diet and had the expected goiters, as I did also. Modern science provided the cure with idodine, and that evolved into "iodized salt." I still remember drinking 6 drops of iodine a day. Bob(deckman)Nelson

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: Anne Lister
Date: 22 Apr 08 - 02:36 AM

For what it's worth, they're called rutabaga in France, too. And considered only fit for feeding to animals, because there was some surprise when I said they were good in a stew.

Anne

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 22 Apr 08 - 04:44 AM

Turnip Family Secrets

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 22 Apr 08 - 08:32 AM

"I have lived in St. Paul, Minnesota, for more than 40 years, and I have never heard anyone here call a rutabaga a "Swede". "

Jim, I've lived in the UK for 61 years and, until I joined Mudcat, I'd never heard the term 'Rutabaga'.

But then I'd never heard of William Shatner either........... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 22 Apr 08 - 09:32 AM

Learned to love rutabagas growing up in Milwaukee -- my mother always called them 'beggies.

Rutabagas are the big (softball- through cantaloupe-sized) yellow turnips, sort of the color of butternut squash.

They are an essential ingredient in the boiled dinners (ham, potatoes, onions, rutabagas, celery and cabbage) that my mother made, but my father had to cut off the waxed skin and quarter it first so mom could further cut it up. I never knew that boiled dinner (usually with brisket instead of ham) was claimed as the national dish of New England until I moved here in 1970.

Occasionally we'd just have boiled rutabagas, but usually they were in boiled dinner.

I like kolrabi, too, and zucchini slices dipped in egg and flour and fried up with onions.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: MartinRyan
Date: 22 Apr 08 - 10:49 AM

Jim Dixon:
I have no idea what a mangelwurzel is. I infer it's something in the same family, but I have never heard them mentioned in the US.

However, I have eaten turnip greens. I rather like greens: kale, turnip, mustard, collard. I buy them in cans.

On holidays in Croatia last year, mangelworzel greens regularly featured on menus. Not a culinary delight to which I hade previously been exposed - but I've known worse!

Regards
p.s. They usually had a spice and a nut chopped through them. Damned if I can remember what...

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: MartinRyan
Date: 22 Apr 08 - 10:57 AM

nutmeg and...?

Regards

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 22 Apr 08 - 11:19 AM

"Nutmeg and ginger, it's the best we can do"


Gower Wassail

A-wassail, a-wassail, throughout all the town.
Our cup it is white and our ale it is brown.
Our wassail is made of the good ale and true,
Some nutmeg and ginger, it's the best we can do.
   Fol the dol, the dol-de-dol,
   Fol the dol-de-dol, fol the dol-de-dee,
   Fol the dero, fol the daddy,
   Sing tu-re-lye-do!

Our wassail is made of the elderberry bough
And so, my good neighbour, we'll drink unto thou;
Besides all of that, you'll have apples in store,
Pray let us come in for its cold by the door.
   Fol the dol, . . . &c.

There's a master and a mistress sitting down by the fire,
While we poor wassailers do wait in the mire,
And if we're alive for another new year,
Perhaps we may call and see who doth live here.
   Fol the dol, . . . &c.

We know by the moon that we are not too soon,
We know by the sky that we are not too high,
We know by the stars that we are not too far,
We know by the ground that we are within sound.
   Fol the dol, . . . &c.


What BS thread?


G

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: MartinRyan
Date: 22 Apr 08 - 11:32 AM

Ginger might have helped, alright!

Regards
p.s. Actually, when I saw the thread title, I automaticsally started to riffle through the names of ships in songs....

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 22 Apr 08 - 11:57 AM

Nah that's Trinidad and Rutabaga you're thinking of.

G ¦o]

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 22 Apr 08 - 12:33 PM

Mangelwurzels are a type of beet, so their greens should be something akin to Swiss chard. Swiss chard is merely a beet variety which has been selectively bred for its leaves instead of its root.

Subject: RE: BS: Origins: The Rutabaga
From: Kent Davis
Date: 22 Apr 08 - 10:43 PM

Grandmother, in Southern West Virginia, called them "Hanovers". I've never heard or seen the term outside of that region. Anyone else know it?

Kent