Envoy at 18:32, 16 October 2007

2007-10-16T18:32:34Z

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{{Taxobox
| name = Rutabaga, Kålrot
| image = Rootveg rutabaga.jpg
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Brassicales]]
| familia = [[Brassicaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Brassica]]''
| species = '''''Napobrassica'''''
| binomial = ''Brassica napobrassica''
| binomial_authority = [[Philip Miller|Mill.]]
}}

The '''rutabaga''', '''swede''' or '''(yellow) turnip''' (''[[Brassica]] napobrassica'', or ''[[Brassica napus]]'' var. napobrassica) is a [[root vegetable]] that originated as a cross between the [[cabbage]] and the [[Brassica rapa|turnip]]—see the [[turnip (disambiguation)|turnip disambiguation page]]. Its leaves may also be eaten as a [[leaf vegetable]].

"Rutabaga" (from dialectal [[Swedish language|Swedish]] ''"rotabagge"'', ''root ram'') is the common [[American English|American]] term for the plant, while "swede" (''[[Swedish people|Swede]]'') is the preferred term used in much of [[English English|England]], [[Wales]], [[Ireland]], [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]]. In the U.S., it is also known as "Swedish turnip" or "yellow turnip", while in [[Atlantic Canada]], where [[turnip]]s are relatively unknown, it is called turnip. In Scotland it is commonly referred to as "swede" or "Swedish turnip", and the turnip instead is called a "white turnip" or simply "turnip". Scots will refer to both types by the generic term "neep" (a contraction of the archaic pronunciation "turneep"). Prior to pumpkins being readily available in the UK (a relatively recent innovation), turnips were hollowed out and carved with faces to make lanterns for Halloween. Often called "jack o'lanterns," they were the ancient symbol of a damned soul. This custom also occurred in [[Ferryhill]] in County Durham. In North-East England, turnips and swedes/rutabagas are colloquially called "snadgies". Also in the North of England they are referred to as "manglewurzels", a corruption of a German term for this food as an animal fodder. In [[Yorkshire]] and [[Lincolnshire]], swedes are often mashed together with carrots as part of the traditional [[Sunday roast]].

Its common name in [[Sweden]] is "kålrot" (cabbage root). In Norway it is also called "kålrot", but often also "kålrabi" (which in Sweden and Denmark means [[kohlrabi]]).

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.{{Fact|date=June 2007}} 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 [[Germany|German]] ''Steckrübenwinter'' (swede/rutabaga winter) of [[1916]]–[[1917|17]], large parts of the population were kept alive on a diet consisting of rutabagas and little else. After the war, most people were so tired of rutabagas that they gained a reputation as a "[[famine food]]," which reputation they have retained to the present day.{{Fact|date=June 2007}} As a consequence, they are rarely planted in Germany. During [[World War II]] Swedes were often used as filler in "mixed fruit" jams in Britain.

The Swedes cook rutabagas with [[potato]]es and mash them with [[butter]] and [[milk]] to create a puree called "rotmos" (root mash). In Scotland, the same vegetables 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]]. Neeps may also be mashed with [[potato]]es to make [[Clapshot]]. Regional variations include the addition of onions to [[Clapshot]]in [[Orkney]]. Neeps are also extensively used in soups and stews. In [[Norway]], swedes/rutabagas are mixed with potatoes, [[carrot]]s, [[onion]] and [[cream]] to make a similar mash called "kålrabistappe". 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 [[stew]]s or [[casserole]]s, are served mashed with carrots, or baked in a [[pasty]].

The town of [[Cumberland, Wisconsin]], [[United States|U.S.]], celebrates a "Rutabaga Festival" each year, always the weekend preceding [[Labor Day Weekend]]. The [[International Rutabaga Curling Championship]] annually takes place at the [[New York Ithaca|Ithaca, NY]], farmer's market.

Excessive consumption of rutabaga (as well as cassava, maize, bamboo shoots, sweet potatoes, and lima beans) can be associated with [[hypothyroidism]]. These cyanoglucoside-containing foods 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. Goiters may develop when there is a dietary imbalance of thiocyanate-containing food in excess of iodine consumption.

"Rutabaga" is also a specific mutation type in [[Drosophila|fruit flies]], resulting in impaired mental capacity.

==See also==
*[[Kohlrabi]]
* [[List of culinary vegetables]]

==References==
*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.

== External links ==
* [http://gourmet.sympatico.ca/vegetables/root/swede.htm Discussion of this vegetable in detail]
* [http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/rutabaga.html Alternative Field Crops Manual: Rutabaga]
* [http://www.rutastudies.org/ More information and links, both serious and less so]
* http://www.formulaforlife.com.au/asp/vegetables.asp?cmd=show&vegetableid=46&letter=S

[[Category:Brassica]]
[[Category:Root vegetables]]
[[Category:Leaf vegetables]]
[[Category:Underutilized crops]]

Rutabaga - Revision history

Envoy at 18:32, 16 October 2007