Exploring your roots – and not just turnips!

It is very unusual indeed to have the choice of root vegetables other than potatoes, carrots, maybe parsnips (if you are lucky) and mashed swede (if you are very lucky) in your roast lunch at the pub or carvery.

But if cooking at home (and growing your own veg) you can really add variety to your meals with the wide range of root vegetables that have all but disappeared from our plates. As well as growing them yourself, you can also keep an eye out at markets, farm shops, roadside stalls and fairs as sometimes they do appear amongst the more common produce on sale.

The humble turnip

Not necessarily thought of as a heritage or heirloom vegetable (as the older varieties are known), a recent disappearance for our plates has been the humble turnip.

Perhaps it is most famous for its role in the crop rotation system developed by ‘Turnip Townshend’. Charles Townsend, a one-time secretary of state, got his nickname as he grew turnips in abundance on his farm in Norfolk. He developed the Norfolk crop rotation system which relied on a crop of clover to help restore the soil every four years, the other three years having wheat as a cash crop, turnips for fodder, and barley as a cash and malting crop.

Turnips can be boiled as any other root vegetable, or cubed and roast in the oven which brings out the flavour the best, caramelising their natural sugars and leaving them crispy on the outside and creamy in the middle.

Growing heirloom vegetables

For gardeners there are plenty of other root vegetables available that have fallen out of fashion where heirloom and heritage seeds are still available.

These plants can help biodiversity, many being open pollinated, as well as providing welcome variety when used in cooking. They would have been a common sight on tables in the past so have historical significance as well. The plants are often ideally suited to taking their place in mixed borders.

The beauty of beetroot

You may think of beetroot as being very red, often pickled, and more often than not used as an addition to a salad. But heritage varieties such as the golden types are delicious boiled and served alongside the roast potatoes and carrots.

Amongst the seed packets at the garden centre, you may come across a rainbow selection too – with five different heirloom seeds giving you a genuine range of colours.

Another variety of beetroot is the Mangelwurzel which is generally used for animal fodder, but can join your plate if picked young.

Skirret, chervil and salsify

Pre-dating the availability of the potato in the UK, skirret would have been grown and eaten. This plant has slender roots with a slight fibrous core, and after peeling they are best prepared by par boiling and then frying or roasting, or boiling until soft and mashing to bring out their natural sugars. The taste is something between a carrot, parsnip and potato.

The roots of chervil offer another choice. They are more peppery, with a slight sweet and aniseed taste, so may not be for everyone. They need a bit of shade, plenty of water and have quite a fast growth cycle. The leaves can used in cooking as well as in salads and as a garnish. Cook in the same way as you would parsnips.

Another parsnip type root vegetable is salsify, again something we hardly ever see – if at all.

Jerusalem artichokes

I cannot remember the last time I was served Jerusalem artichokes.

Unlike the globe varieties, Jerusalem are a root vegetable albeit with somewhat small and knobbly tubers. They can be boiled, fried, roasted, and sautéed (as well as being grated raw into salads), and have a delicious nutty flavour.

Older varieties of common vegetables

We should not forget there are older varieties of common root vegetables too. Multi coloured carrots, parsnips that can have a richer taste than the ones we buy in the supermarket, likewise for swede.

Potato varieties developed before 1950 are also readily available, to remind us of “what a potato should taste like”, some being coloured purple, all offering a new taste experience.

Heirloom and Heritage seeds

Heirloom and Heritage seeds can be found for many other vegetables, not just those that grow underground, all providing an exciting addition to your meals.

Many of these are versatile too, often good in soups, as an addition to your salads and for making very interesting side dishes. They can be grown in pots and in your borders amongst other plants you can go foraging in your own garden, as well as increasing biodiversity.

With just a little effort you can bring back long forgotten flavours.

So the next time you are shopping for vegetables, or selecting seeds for the garden, adding a bit of adventure, fun and a taste of history can bring many other benefits.

Our grateful thanks to

• Jamieson Brothers for permission to use of the image of the potato, just one of the varieties they stock (https://www.jamiesonbrothers.com/),
• JennyWrenSeeds for the Skirret image, who supply rare and heritage seeds (https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/JennyWrenSeeds),
• SheGrowsVeg for the images of beetroot and carrots, they supply a wide range of seeds including for some of the vegetables no longer commonly available. (https://shegrowsveg.com/).