Cooked Turnips

Cooked Turnips: From Garden to Plate

Cooked turnips are a great way to add some extra flavour, crunch and nutrients to any meal. Whether they are served mashed, roasted, glazed or in a soup, the humble turnip can really make a dish stand out. But how do they get to at-home cooks’ dinner plates? Let’s take a look at the journey from the farm to the kitchen.

Planting and Growing

Turnips are cool-season crops, meaning they prefer cooler temperatures, making them perfect for autumn and winter planting in most areas. They generally take about four to six weeks to mature, so planters need to take into account their local climate and plan accordingly.

Before seeding, gardeners need to prepare the soil. Turnips need a loose, well-draining soil, with plenty of organic matter and regular moisture. Although they don’t need to be fertilised heavily, adding compost or manure before planting helps condition the soil.

Once planted, turnips need to be thinned to the final desired spacing and weeds must be kept at bay. Finally, they need to be irrigated regularly so the plants don’t dry out and are kept stress-free.

Harvesting

Turnips can be harvested when the roots reach two or three inches in diameter, although they may be smaller in sandy soil. Small turnips may be sweeter and more tender, while larger roots can be woody and bitter.

They should be left in the ground until picking day and then pulled up with a garden fork or spade. The soil and debris should be brushed off but the root should not be washed.

Turnips need to be stored and transported carefully, so pickers take them off the field in crates or boxes. Harvested turnips should be placed in a cool, dry place and shielded from direct sunlight as soon as possible since heat and light will cause them to deteriorate quickly. Transporting them should not cause bruising unless the turnips are packed too tightly in small boxes.

Post-Harvest

When it is time to ship the turnips, some freshness metrics need to be taken into account. These metrics include quality (e.g. colour, shape and size), cleanliness, and firmness. Inspectors check if the roots meet the growers’ and buyers’ standards and decide if they are fit for sale. Then, the turnips are placed in pre-coolers, bringing them down to temperatures suitable for transport.

Next, the turnips are loaded onto trucks and shipped to the local supermarket’s central hubs. At this point, the turnips are inspected again and placed in refrigerated containers, keeping them safe on their way to the shelves.

At the supermarket, the turnip roots need to be handled carefully in order to minimise damage and preserve their peak freshness. Rotation is especially important to ensure that older stock is sold first and make sure customers are getting the freshest turnips.

In the Kitchen

Once at the shoppers’ kitchen, turnips can be cooked in a variety of ways. Most recipes call for them to be boiled, steamed, roasted or mashed. Boiling in salted water for about 10 minutes will make them tender, but not soften them up too much. Steaming turnips in a colander on top of boiling water for around eight minutes is another great option. Roasted turnips can also be a delicious side dish when they are cut into wedges and tossed in oil, herbs and spices.

To achieve the perfect mash, boiled or steamed turnips should be mashed with butter and cream or other liquids such as stock, yoghurt or sour cream. Salt and pepper should be added to taste.

Turnips can also be sliced and added to soups or stews, or grated and tossed in salads. Experimenting with herbs, spices and other vegetables is a great way to add flavour and variety to turnips.

The Perfect Addition to Any Meal

Turnips are usually low-maintenance, tasty and nutritious and there are so many dishes that can benefit from their addition. With this in mind, it is clear to see why turnips have been consumed since antiquity and now have reached so many dinner plates around the world.

It is important to remember that the key to getting the best out of turnips is handling and cooking them properly. The journey from garden to plate is not just about transporting them to the supermarket and then to our kitchens – it is about preserving their freshness, enjoying their flavour and all the nutritional goodness that comes with this wonderful root vegetable.