A confession: I’m not a massive fan of swede. So, when I was asked to write three recipes for this unglamorous root vegetable, I was neither filled with excitement nor did the recipes start tumbling from my brain. And I’m not alone – in Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book, which I often refer to for vegetable inspiration, she says the following of swede: 'As a vehicle for butter… it is exactly right. But I conclude that otherwise swede is a vegetable to be avoided. The watery orange slush of school dinners was unredeemed by drainage or butter.' Yikes! I realise these aren’t particularly reassuring comments to read in an article aiming to promote the wonders of swede, but please bear with me.
The problem with swede is that you only tend to come across it in a mash format and often a bad one at that. Swede has a peculiar ability to be able to be both lumpy and hard, as well as watery and slushy at the same time – not a particularly appealing thing. However, underneath it all, swede does have good flavour – bitter and slightly sweet – that doesn’t fade into the background in the way that potatoes can.
I’ve chosen three recipes in which swede thrives, where its distinct flavour comes to the fore and is a genuine pleasure to eat.
