On Food and Cooking

The turnip, Brassica rapa, has been under
cultivation for about 4,000 years in Eurasia as
a staple, fast-growing food. It consists of both
lower stem and taproot, can have a number of
different shapes and colors, and has the
sulfury aroma typical of the family (p. 321).
Small, mild varieties may be eaten raw and
crunchy like radishes, larger ones cooked until
soft: but not too long, or the overcooked
cabbage flavor dominates and the texture
becomes mushy. Turnips are also pickled.
The crisp, sometimes pungent radish is a
different species, Raphanus sativus, a native
of western Asia, and had reached the
Mediterranean by the time of the ancient
Egyptians and Greeks. Like the turnip it’s
mainly a swollen lower stem, and has been
shaped by human selection into many
distinctive forms and striking colors (for
example, green at the surface and red inside).
Most familiar in the United States are small,