Swede

Much as I love my vegetables I am not going to write an ode to the swede. For me its virtues are humble, lying largely in its dependable storability, its cheapness, its winter season and its glorious combination with butter and pepper. I do also love haggis, but only once a year: a pasty would not be the same without them and nothing goes quite as well with roast beef as mashed swede and horseradish.

There is a surprising amount of variation in flavour between varieties, and I would be tempted to wax more lyrical if we could still buy our local variety Devon Champion but this is no longer available, the market having been taken over by quicker-growing, more uniform varieties – a travesty indeed. We really should have saved some of our own seed.