The land of the swede

We are soon off for a short break in the land that first gave us the swede - Sweden, suprisingly enough. Made me think of a couple of things related to this vegetable (and in its various other guises such as rutabaga, neeps or turnips).

At boarding school, where we had no choice in what was served up to us, we did get mashed swede occasionally, but not that often. At home in the holidays, though (well, my grandmother's house) we had it regularly. Unfortunately, she was the sort that put the sprouts for the Christmas lunch on at 9am in the morning (for lunch at 2!), so when swede was served, it was practically tasteless. I think that is what really put me off it, and can't recall having actually asked for it to be included in my diet for over forty years!

The Scots tend to serve it up (so I hear from the likes of Billy Connolly) mixed with spuds as 'neeps and tatties' - but I don't recall whether they're mashed up together or diced and mixed.

There must be some recipes around for this apparently filling vegetable (it was practically all they had to eat in Germany in the winter of 1916-17) that make it attractive to eat?

Will be attempting to find swede recipes (or at least restaurant dishes containing it) during the upcoming holiday. If I'm suitably impressed, I'll report back - otherwise I won't.