The Eastham Turnip – the lore, the fame, the following…….

  note:  I stand corrected – this is not an Eastham Turnip – which, I have been instructed, have green tops!

Today is the Eastham Turnip Festival in Eastham, MA – for those of you not familiar, on the “outer” or “lower” Cape, on Cape Cod, MA.  This is a big event for Cape Codders and all those who love the Cape, cooking and baking on the Cape and farming on the Cape.  The “festival” itself celebrates the local turnip with cooking events, including contests, music and games.  There happen to be other festivals celebrating the turnip crop at this time of year in New York State and in Wisconsin, just in case you were wondering.

Confession:  I knew nothing about the lore of this turnip until a few years ago  (in fact, I never ate turnips until I met my husband, who grew up in Connecticut, and had Thanksgiving with his siblings for years beginning back in 1977).  A lovely woman I met many years ago at the Eagles Nest, formerly of Harding, now in Basking Ridge, NJ, told me about the Eastham Turnip, as her sister resides year-round in Wellfleet and she visits her often there.  She sent me an article about the Eastham Turnip which had appeared in the newspaper and I have since gone off and tried to learn all about this “famous” root vegetable.

One most recent and descriptive article I found was in Edible Cape Cod, circa 2009 and it described the man who was famous on the Cape for farming the Eastham Turnip and was the local celebrity-expert, if you will.  His name was Art Nickerson and he passed away in 2008 at the age of 93.  He began farming turnips at the age of 12 – that’s 1919.  The Nickerson Family is historically famous for many reasons on the Cape and you will see their name often in many different venues.

According to this article, the Eastham turnip is uncommonly sweet, white and large and develops a purple crown as it matures.  This is not to be confused with the purple turnip or the rutabaga.  It is an heirloom, open-pollinated varietal, passed from generation to generation for over 100 years and is typically harvested after frost in November.   Mr. Nickerson was known to have shipped his turnips as far as Alaska and Florida and was considered the only supply of their seeds.  You can read the entire article at www.ediblecommunities.com/…/the-eastham-turnip-a-art-nickerson.h…

I am guessing that, judging from the overall absence of turnips in the grocery stores, eating turnips as part of the Thanksgiving or Fall menu in general isn’t that popular.  I don’t know if this is because the turnip seems to be a big New England tradition and well, we aren’t part of New England.   Well, suffice it to say that I have become a fan of turnips and have cooked the notable Eastham turnip when cooking Thanksgiving dinner at our home on the Cape and the more common yellow turnip in other years.  The Eastham turnip doesn’t seem to be available here in New Jersey at all – at least I can not find it – so I am destined to select from the turnip selection at our local grocery stores.  (Postscript:  I actually saw some small white turnips with purple tops tonight in Kings in Bernardsville – but I could not be sure where they came from.)  Perhaps at the Farmer’s Markets in New York I’d have some luck?  Bottom line,  there are many turnip fans out there – especially at this time of year.  I found many articles on the internet about Eastham turnips and several recipes – even one for a pie.  While those who don’t live on the Cape or vacation in or around New England may wonder, seriously, what all the fuss is about, I firmly believe this is a subject vegetable worth learning  about and giving a try.

Anyway, here is a simple recipe for Mashed Eastham Turnips.  If you are not a fan of the pure turnip flavor, I would mix this with homemade applesauce and re-heat.  This would be a nice, sweet alternative.

MASHED EASTHAM TURNIPS – courtesy Jodi’s Kitchen and Home

Wash and peel the turnips.  Cut into 2″ cubes and place in boiling, salted water.  Boil for about 20 minutes or until fork tender.  Drain and place turnips back in the warm pot.  With a potato masher, mash the turnips with a generous amount of butter (and some cream, if desired), adding salt and pepper to taste.  Serve hot.

Lest you think that turnips aren’t really very popular, there are a good 17 pages of recipes including turnips on Epicurious.com.  They include gratins, roasted turnips, various purees, etc. etc.  So, you can experiment here as you like.  Take a look.  The lowly turnip isn’t quite as obscure as you might think.

Here is another one that I think sounds good – as I love just about anything with roasted pears, especially at this time of year:

MASHED POTATOES WITH TURNIPS AND ROASTED PEAR PUREE – courtesy of Bon Appetit 11/04 – serves 16

1/4 cup honey

2 Tblsp fresh lemon juice

2 Tblsp butter, melted

8 bosc pears, peeled, cored and quartered

5 lb yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2″ pieces

2 lb white turnips, peeled and cut into 2″ pieces

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine honey, lemon juice and melted butter in a large bowl.  Add pears and toss to coat.  Arrange pears in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast pears for 30 minutes.  Turn pears to coat with juices and roast until very tender, about 35 minutes longer.  Transfer pears and caramelized juices to a food processor and blend until smooth.  Pear Puree can be made 2 days in advance.  Cover and refrigerate.

Cook potatoes and turnips in separate large pots of generously salted water until tender, about 25 minutes.  Drain well.  Transfer turnips to processor and puree until smooth.  Mash potatoes with room temperature butter in a large bowl until smooth.  Stir in pureed turnips.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Can be prepared 6 hours ahead.  Cover and refrigerate.  Rewarm in microwave before continuing.

Rewarm pear puree.  Place potato-turnip mixture in a large serving bowl.  Swirl in pear puree and serve hot.

Try these or some of the other featured recipes found on the internet.  You, too may become a fan if you are not one already!

I must confess that I wish I had been on the Cape today so I could have attended the festival and photographed it for this post.  Maybe next year.  Until then, enjoy!