rutabagas

Here are the beautiful rutabagas! I bought these to put in my stuffing for Thanksgiving, but my guests warned me that they would ruin it. Since I've never tried rutabaga, I left them out and looked forward to trying them later.

Well, last night I tried them. Unfortunately, just the smell of slicing and cooking them was unpleasant. It turns out that variability in a certain taste receptor gene makes some people find rutabagas (and turnips) very bitter. That's me. My husband enjoyed them and said they taste sweet like squash.


There's some amusing literature on the rutabaga: The Rutabagan, concerned about rutabaga under use and a post at Dreams and Bones, who serves (and grows!) rutabagas every Thanksgiving.

I think this is one brassica I will not grow in my garden any time soon.