A dish of neeps, or not...

Vegetable nomenclature can be a confusing business. In most of Britain these are known as turnips. Not parsnips (which are longer, and white) or swedes (which are bigger, and orange.) But in Scotland swedes are neeps, or, if you like, neeps are swedes, which in the USA are rutabagas.

Anyway, I love these tender little babies which can be popped out of the ground and on to the supper table so early in the season. These came from our Farmers' Market but you have to get there early as the vegetable man soon sells out. (I've never had much success growing them in our stony soil.)

Not everyone knows that the leaves are delicious too - they are popular in Spain and probably elsewhere. Tonight, I simply dropped the turnips into boiling water along with new potatoes and both were ready at the same time. I cooked the greens separately for a few minutes and served the roots and the tops together just tossed in some butter and pepper.

Believe it or not, but there's a website devoted to the turnip which provides turnip recipes and turnip history, advice on the nutritional and medical advantages of the turnip, and articles such as 'dieting with turnips' and 'turnips festivals worldwide'.

Turnips don't have a high status among vegetables: historically they've been peasant or poverty food, and were supplanted by the potato. 'Turnip head' is an insult and there's often something seen to be slightly ridiculous about root veg. Is it just the shape?

I resisted the temptation to call my blip ' A dish of thingies' but if you want to have a snigger see here.

Giant neeps!