Celebrating turnips may have been the last thing on people’s minds amid a national food shortage.
But Therese Coffey had other ideas, as she encouraged the UK to ‘cherish’ the root vegetable rather than lettuce and tomatoes.
His views come as supermarkets including Aldi, Morrisons, Asda and Tesco have limited sales of peppers and cucumbers, while frost affects imports from Spain and Morocco.
The Secretary of State emphasized that it was ‘important to make sure that we appreciate the specialties’ of this country.
He added: “Many people would be eating turnips right now rather than necessarily thinking about… lettuce and tomatoes and the like, but I am aware that consumers want a year-round option and that is what our supermarkets, producers of food and producers around the world are trying to satisfy.’
Following his comments, ‘turnip’ blew up on Twitter, with one user commenting: ‘Eat turnips instead of tomatoes! I love a pizza with turnips, don’t you?
Another added: “Turnip ketchup for me.”
With the question of turnip dishes on everyone’s mind, MailOnline set about compiling a list of the most unexpected recipes.
turnip hash browns
Inspired by All Nutritious Recipes:
Ingredients: Grated turnips, salt, garlic, beaten egg, cornmeal.
1. Add the grated turnips to a bowl with the chives, a beaten egg, garlic, cornmeal, and a little salt and pepper.
2. Mix it until a dough is formed.
3. When ready, cup small clumps of dough in your hands to form a 2-inch-wide, ½-inch-thick cake.
4. Now the cakes can be placed in a skillet over medium heat and flip every 30 seconds with a spatula.
5. After two to three minutes they should be golden brown and ready to eat.
Pink Pickled Turnips
a recipe for olive magazine:
Ingredients: Two small beets, four small turnips, 100 g icing sugar, two teaspoons of sea salt, one teaspoon of dried chilli flakes.
1. Put the water, sugar, vinegar, and chiles in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.
2. Meanwhile, place the peeled turnips and beets in a jar.
3. Once the sugar has dissolved in the pan, pour the liquid over the vegetables.
4. After this has cooled, seal the jar and place in a cool, dark place for seven days.
turnip fries
Inspired by: girl heart food:
Ingredients: Turnips, paprika, garlic powder, olive oil.
1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
2. Cut the peeled turnips into chip-shaped slices.
3. Put the slices in a bowl and mix with olive oil, paprika and garlic powder.
4. Bake for 30 minutes.
turnip soup
1. Heat the peeled turnips in a large saucepan with oil over medium heat.
2. Add an onion and cook until golden.
3. Add salt, vinegar, pepper and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Increase the heat and add the broth.
5. Cook for another 12 minutes before adding the carrots.
6. Transfer the liquid to a blender and blend until smooth.
turnip salad
1. After peeling the carrot and turnips, put them in a bowl.
2. Mix the vegetables in olive oil, parsley and lemon juice.
3. Sprinkle with salt and serve.
turnip puree
1. Add the diced turnips to a saucepan and heat for about half an hour until just tender.
2. After this, drain the turnips and add them back to the pot.
3. Sprinkle with the salt, pepper and add the butter.
4. Use a masher to mash the turnips.
turnip jam
1. Preheat the oven to 150°C.
2. Meanwhile, add oil and butter to a large dish over medium heat.
3. After a few minutes, add the onions, broth, and jam.
4. Let it boil before putting the turnips.
5. Place a lid on the dish and leave the infusion in the oven for 30 minutes.
6. Check that the turnips are soft before returning to the plate.
7. Add cream over medium heat before serving.
turnip curry
1. Add onion and cumin seeds to a skillet until golden brown.
2. Put garlic in ginger paste and green chillies.
3. Stir in diced tomatoes until smooth and sauté diced turnips.
4. Cook for 20 minutes.
5. Put the chopped cilantro on the served plate.
