Swede is a key ingredient in Scotland’s most famous dish: haggis, neeps and tatties with whisky sauce. Clapshot is another traditional Scottish dish originating from Orkney. While recipes vary, it is generally a mix of potato, swede and/or turnips mashed up with lots of butter and sometimes chives or spring onions. Excellent served with haggis, sausages or hearty stews.

Whilst maybe not the most fashionable of vegetables, swede sneaks its way into several classic dishes. It’s often found in a traditional Irish stew, and is one of the key ingredients in a Cornish pasty. It's also a delicious addition to bubble and squeak if you have leftovers. You probably never noticed, but it’s also in the popular British condiment Branston pickle.

Mashing or crushing swede is probably the most common way to serve it, and with good reason too. The vegetable loses its bitter edge, turning sweeter almost like a carrot, and will absorb lots of flavour in the form of butter, milk, garlic or herbs (four things I think we can all agree improve any dish).

Due to its seasonality, swede is often associated with comforting, wintry dishes such as stews and casseroles. As it's quite a sturdy vegetable, it benefits from a long, slow braise to absorb the surrounding flavours whilst holding its shape.

Salt-baking swede is a nice way of celebrating the vegetable, which is so often overlooked in favour of the trendier celeriac or beetroot. This cooking method transforms the vegetable into a perfectly seasoned centrepiece with bags of flavour. You can then either blitz the flesh into a purée as in Michael Wignall’s recipe below, or slice into wedges and pan-fry in foaming butter for a lovely caramelised finish. Follow the same method as the salt-baked celeriac but with a swede if you want to keep things simple.

Due to the seasonal nature of the vegetable, swede often gets paired with game. The iron-rich, earthy flavour of game meat is well suited to the sweet and earthy vegetable.