Root for Root Vegetables

I watched a college basketball game this past week – the University of New Mexico Lobos vs. New Mexico State Aggies.  These are the two biggest universities in the state and so there is naturally a rivalry.  I live in Albuquerque and attended UNM, so I naturally root for the Lobos and usually boo at the Aggies.  Why boo?  Why dislike a school, a team, a group of people just because they aren’t the school that I went to?   It’s almost as if disliking the Aggies is ingrained in the Lobos and vice versa for no other reason than “they aren’t us.”  And somehow this is acceptable for sporting events as we choose a team to root for, which means we are choosing a team to root against.

Yet I think we carry this mentality into other aspects of our lives too – the idea that if we like one thing, we can’t possibly like another just because it isn’t the first thing.  For example, most people like potatoes – fried, scalloped, baked, chips, whatever form they can get.  If you ask someone, “do you like potatoes?” you will probably get an enthusiastic nod.  However, if you ask people “do you like turnips?”  You will probably get a raised eyebrow followed by a wrinkling of the nose as if they just smelled something like hot trash.  And then if you ask, “have you ever tried turnips?”  You might get a mixed response: some will say no and some will say they were forced to eat them as children but haven’t had them in a long time, while others might say they attempted to make them but couldn’t quite figure out how to cook them.

Turnip Fries

It’s this first group that I can’t quite figure out – how can they dislike something they have never tried? How did the turnip become so wildly unpopular in their minds?  For the people who have bad childhood memories associated with root vegetables, I understand why they wouldn’t want to give them another chance. My mother is in this group.  She says she had to eat turnips as a child and that they were bitter.  As she described this, she looked as if that bitterness was still on her tastebuds. 

I have not experienced the bitter turnip sensation, so I am a fan of the turnip and root vegetables in general.  To me, the turnip is an excellent substitute for the potato.  I have made mashed turnips just like I would if I were making mashed potatoes; boil the turnips, drain the water, add chicken broth,  some butter, salt, and pepper.  Voila!  Mashed turnips!  The husband said that he couldn’t tell the

difference between the turnip and the potato.  I’ve also made Turnip Fries in the oven by cutting up the turnip to look like fries, drizzling with olive oil, and sprinkling with paprika and salt.  These are delicious with a burger! 

Roasted Chicken and Rutabaga

After my impromptu survey about turnips, I decided to ask people about the rutabaga. Most people asked, “What’s that?” and looked at me like I had made up the word.  The rutabaga is a root vegetable just like the turnip.  It seems to have  a wilder taste to it – kind of like venison is to beef – similar but different.  Instead of white “meat” like the turnip, the rutabaga is more yellow.  I made Roasted Chicken and Rutabaga for my first taste of this root vegetable.  While I really like the turnip, the rutabaga didn’t impress me nearly as much.  The recipe called for many spices, black olives, and yet the rutabaga could not be tamed.  It still tasted a bit wild, maybe this was the bitterness my mother had referred to.  However, I ate it anyway and I hope to try it again.  Maybe I will make rutabaga fries the next time.

Both the turnip and the rutabaga are part of the mustard (crucifer) family along with cabbage, cauliflower, and the radish.  So why are these vegetables in the same family more widely accepted?  How did the turnip and the rutabaga fall from popularity?  I don’t know the answer to these questions, but just as I will continue to root for the Lobos I will continue to root for root vegetables (and try to boo less for the Aggies.)