Humble turnip makes comeback

In Scotland they have never forgotten the earthy charms of the "neep", adding the root vegetable into their mashed potato and serving it with a helping of haggis on Burns night. But thanks to the credit crunch and shrinking household budgets, the humble turnip is staging a comeback across the UK, with one leading supermarket reporting that sales have rocketed by 75% in 12 months.

Turnips have been served up since at least the Middle Ages, but since the second world war their popularity has declined, perhaps not helped by the hapless Baldrick's obsession with them in the television series Blackadder.

Enthusiasts say they are great with soups and casseroles. Their leaves can also be boiled and served as a side dish instead of more expensive cabbage or spinach.

Tesco revealed yesterday that sales were up by 75%. A spokeswoman said: "This is a massive and outstanding increase for us." Suffolk farmer Richard Parry, who supplies the big supermarkets with turnips, said: "People are turning away from prepared meals and are instead buying raw produce to save money. One root vegetable can provide quite a lot of food on a plate compared to buying a pre-prepared meal. Turnips are great at bulking out recipes such as stew and casserole. They can also be sliced up raw and mixed into salads, or fried in oil."

Mark Vince, a greengrocer in Bournemouth, Dorset, said: "We haven't got enough to meet the demand. We sell our turnips for 59p a pound, which is 40p cheaper than parsnips."

Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson said he had fond memories of eating turnips as a child at school.

He said: "I think turnips are good to use in a mass mix of potatoes and stew to bulk it out. Personally I don't like the taste of them on their own, but they are fine if you add them to a dish." However, turnip fanciers ought to stock up while the going is good. "The only problem is that they are cheap at the moment but like all vegetables, once they become popular the price will go up," he added.