BOTANICAL NAME: Brassica rapa
FAMILY: Brassicaceae
In 1805 a paper was presented before the Royal Horticultural Society that brought the Teltow turnip to the attention of English gardeners. It was duly noted, however, that this delicacy was only consumed by foreigners living in England at that time. The white color and carrot shape of the turnip was described and a number of French recipes were provided for dealing with turnips in a more sophisticated Continental style. Actually, the Raifort de Berlin, as this turnip was sometimes called in France, was not too common there either, and for this reason Abbé Rozier was obliged to describe it in some detail in his monumental encyclopedia on French agriculture.
Teltow is a small town near Potsdam in Brandenburg. It was one of those outlying villages in the eighteenth century that supplied Berlin with market produce. The sandy soil of the region was especially suited to the culture of turnips, and as a result a number of very localized varieties evolved there, the Teltow becoming the most famous. The roots are about three inches long with gray-white skin. They have a sweet, chestnutlike flavor, unlike any other turnip, and a texture similar to potatoes. They are now considered one of the classic vegetables of Berlin cookery, indeed of the cookery of the whole former Prussian Empire. Thus Tel-tower Rübchen (Rübchen means “little turnip”) is both the German name of the turnip and the name of a specific dish made with them.
The roots are about three inches long with gray-white skin. They have a sweet, chestnutlike flavor, unlike any other turnip, and a texture similar to potatoes.
The basic recipe, as taught by the Doennig sisters who managed the East Prussian School of Cookery and Household Management in old Königsberg at the turn of the 1900s, consisted of poaching the turnips with the skins on (the unique flavor is in the skin). The turnips were then sliced and lightly caramelized in sugar. A roux was prepared with butter and flour that thickened a meat stock (preferably ham), which was then poured over them. This was served as a side dish with broiled cutlets, roast beef, or sausage. Simply boiled and mashed, the turnips were served with Rollmops, pickled herrings stuffed with cornichons and mustard. These old-fashioned dishes are quite simple and fit well into the traditional cookery of the Baltic region. The Teltow turnip, however, has wonderful possibilities for creative cookery here. It will thrive in the sandy flatlands of Michigan and Wisconsin and anywhere else where root vegetables are appreciated.