Rutabaga

About

Rutabaga has a hot, peppery sweetness and dense flesh that responds well to being paired with spices that play up that character, as in Scotland, where it is often seasoned with nutmeg. Sweet, spicy star anise is another good match, as are other sweet, earthy flavors such as root vegetables and roasted garlic. Unlike parsnip and potato, rutabaga tastes good raw, with a hot, sweet quality similar to radish.

Pairs well with rutabaga

• EaPotatoMashed together 1:1 with plenty of butter and chives or crisp fried onion, potato and rutabaga make the Scottish dish clapshot.
• MeBeefThe Cornish pasty layers rutabaga (swede), turnip and potato with seasoned beef and onion inside a pastry casing; onion juice seeps…
• MePorkMashed rutabaga works best as a rustic base under braised or roasted meat and gravy, good with fatty pork shoulder or pig's cheeks, both…
• GrAniseStar anise pairs well with rutabaga (swede) in Asian-style braised dishes, or, as chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall does, folded into…
• MeLambHaggis, made from lamb's pluck (liver, heart and lungs) mixed with oatmeal, suet and spices, has an intensely lamby aroma due to fatty…
• WoCarrotBoiled carrot and rutabaga were a common pairing in British school dinners, though the rutabaga was often left uneaten; a dislike of…
• SpNutmegRutabaga, thought to be a hybrid of cabbage and turnip, shares both parents' affinity for nutmeg.