Turnips have been cultivated for centuries. People love them for their versatility and nutritional content. Natives of Scotland make a dish they call “tatties and neeps,” which is potato and rutabagas mashed separately and served with haggis. In the U.S., rutabagas are most often boiled and mashed with butter and milk or cream. Rutabaga Nutrition Facts Since rutabaga is a cruciferous vegetable, it contains raffinose, which is a complex sugar that can sometimes cause abdominal discomfort, bloating and flatulence. There is methane-producing bacteria in the colon that feeds on raffinose, and for some people, this process can result in the release of gas.

The first known printed reference to the rutabaga comes from the Swiss botanist Gaspard Bauhin in 1620, where he notes that it was growing wild in Sweden. It is often considered to have originated in Scandinavia, Finland or Russia. [11] According to the Natural Resources Institute of Finland (Luke), rutabaga or lanttu was most likely bred on more than one occasion in Northern Europe around the 16th century. Studies by former MTT (now Luke) have shown that lanttu was developed independently in Finland and Sweden from turnip and cabbage in connection with seed cultivation. [12] There are contradictory accounts of how rutabaga arrived in England. Some sources say it arrived in England from Germany, while other accounts support Swedish origins. According to John Sinclair, the root vegetable arrived in England from Germany around 1750. [13] Rutabaga arrived in Scotland by way of Sweden around 1781. [14] The rutabaga, swede (from Swedish turnip), or yellow turnip is a root vegetable that originated as a cross between the cabbage and the turnip.Since turnips have lower calories, they can be great for people who want a low-cal diet. But keep in mind that it is also high in sodium compared to rutabaga. Harvey, Nigel (1949). "The Coming of the Swede to Great Britain: An Obscure Chapter in Farming History". Agricultural History. 23 (4): 286–288. ISSN 0002-1482. JSTOR 3740589.

It is also important to note that when turnips become bigger, they tend to taste bitter too. Hence, it is best to get small turnips at the size of a tennis ball or not more than 4 inches in diameter. Rutabagas have an extremely impressive amount of vitamin C, with a single serving containing more than half of the required daily allotment. Sandburg went on about the storyteller, "In fact, he sometimes indicates that when he needs an animal or fool not yet seen or heard of, he can make it for himself and give it a character so it is real to him, and when he talks about it and tells its story, it is like telling about one of his own children. He seems to love some of the precious things that are cheap, such as stars, the wind, pleasant words, time to be lazy, and fools having personality and distinction. He knows, it seems, that young people are young no matter how many years they live; that there are children born old and brought up to be full of fear; that a young heart keeps young by a certain measure of fooling as the years go by; that men and women old in years sometimes keep a fresh child heart and, to the last, salute the dawn and the morning with a mixture of reverence and laughter."

Irish Side Dishes

The roots should also get stored with a moistened paper towel in perforated plastic bags in the crisper drawer.