Vegetable
Brassica rapa
S tier
Brassica rapa as turnip is the swollen-rooted form—white, purple-top, or gold flesh roots with peppery-sweet crunch raw and soft sweetness cooked—plus edible greens. The same species includes napa cabbage and mizuna; turnip identity is the storage hypocotyl-root. Flavour is milder than radish heat but related. Roast, mash, pickle, or eat raw young. Species umbrella for all turnip varieties here. Young roots beat woody oversized ones.
Track this ingredient
Unit
Characteristics
Preparations
Greens SauteMashPickleRaw YoungRoast
Traits
Crisp RawGreens Also EdiblePepper SweetPeppery SweetSoft CookedSpecies PrimarySpecies UmbrellaSwollen Root Vegetable
History
EU
Early turnip forms fed Eurasian agricultural societies as root and green.
EU
Medieval fields grew turnips as staple fodder and human food.
GB
Agricultural revolution turnip rotations reshaped British farming.
Table turnips specialised beside fodder types in seed catalogues.