[Sca-cooks] re: A question of Turnips...

[Jessica Tiffin]

Mari asked:
>I've discovered that I need to work in another vegetable dish and would like
>to go with Turnips
>Can anyone advise of their their favourite Turnip dish - other than "Turnips
>armoured in Self Defense" ?
One of my favourites which is also a good stove-top one is the Menagier's
"Naves aux chateingnes" - Turnips with chestnuts.  It's in Pleyn Delit
(recipe 37); the translation reads:
"Young, small turnips should be cooked in water without wine for the first
boiling.  Then throw away the water and cook slowly in water and wine, with
chestnuts therein, or, if one has no chestnuts, sage."

It really helps to use smaller, sweeter turnips for this, although I've
also made it successfully with larger ones.  The twice-boiling cuts out a
lot of the standard turnip bitterness, as does the wine.  Since chestnuts
are completely unobtainable at the tip of Africa (sigh), I think I
substituted macadamia nuts the last time I made this, mainly because they
come closest to what I remember of a chestnut's texture.  Admittedly, the
only chestnut I've ever eaten was in the UK when I was 10 years old... :>.
But the nut/turnip flavour and texture combination is _amazing_.

Pleyn Delit's redaction uses 2 lbs turnips to 5 cups water to 1 cup wine to
1/2 lb shelled chestnuts, plus salt, and uses four cups water for the first
boiling and 1c of water, 1c of wine for the second.  Hieatt et al also
recommend adding sage even if you do have chestnuts, although I've never
tried that, being as how I tend to cook from the original with scant regard
for actual quantities....

hope this is the kind of thing you're looking for,
JdH


Lady Jehanne de Huguenin (Jessica Tiffin) *** melisant at iafrica.com
Chronicler, Kingdom of Drachenwald
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