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I recently received a vegetable, looking like a big green beet with a thick skin. As I don't know what it is, I can't look for appropriate recipes on the internet. The Google reverse image search couldn't help either.

Here is the thing:

enter image description here

Catija
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Heschoon
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  • How can this common vegetable have such a weird name in English? – IS4 Jul 18 '17 at 17:40
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    The unusual thing is that it combines a German and a Latin root. "Kohl" is German for cabbage, also found in "cole slaw". "Rabi" is from Latin "rapa", meaning turnip (also found in "broccoli raab" and "rapeseed oil" aka canola). It's more closely related to the cabbage, but we eat the root, which reminded somebody of the turnip. The two languages exchange (word) roots all the time, especially in scientific circles. – Joshua Engel Jul 18 '17 at 18:17
  • @IllidanS4 That's a matter of opinion. I don't consider it a weird name at all, but then again, I understand that English has origins in many languages and loanwords from many more. It's also hardly a "common" vegetable in most English-speaking countries. – user428517 Jul 18 '17 at 22:25
  • Cook it and have it with a lemon and herbs bechamel, and some spuds :) – rackandboneman Jul 19 '17 at 08:40
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    @JoshuaEngel Since the name is 1:1 the same in Germany, I wouldn't be that quick to assume that the word came into English from the two roots - it could first have been formed in Germany (where it doesn't sound strange, despite half of it having a Latin root) and then have become a loanword in English. – rumtscho Jul 19 '17 at 16:49
  • That's correct; I hadn't intended to imply where it was created. I would expect "rabi" to stand out in German (the only other natively German word I could find that ends in -bi was "azubi", and that's only because it's short for Auszubildender), but there are lots of loans. The Kohl spelling is decidedly German, so I suspect that it did originate in Germany. But Kohl may itself have come from Latin, from "caput" head. It's a "cavolo rapi" in Italian, and I have no idea if that formed before or after the German word. – Joshua Engel Jul 19 '17 at 18:49

2 Answers2

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As was mentioned, this is a kohlrabi. I felt more explanation should be given based on the fascinating nature of this plant.

Kohlrabi is one of the handful of cultivars of brassica oleracea. Others include:

cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, savoy, kohlrabi, and gai lan. Brassica Oleracea (Wikipedia)

Brassica oleracea has been cultivated in many different parts of the world to appear almost like entirely unique plants. However, each of the listed plants are, in fact, the same species with slightly varying traits. Kohlrabi, for example, has been bred to have lateral growth in the meristem while broccoli has been bred to have a large, flowering head.

Kohlrabi can be eaten either cooked or raw. It's often used in salads and slaws, and can be interchanged with collard greens or kale.

Joshua Taylor
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BlackThorn
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  • IMHO, the taste is very similar to cauliflower. So you could use it in recipes that require cauliflower. – jeroen_de_schutter Jul 18 '17 at 10:39
  • I've described it in the past as "apple crossed with raw brocolli". It's delicious, and I'd recommend it eaten raw with salso, hoummous etc. as a form of Crudite. – Brondahl Jul 18 '17 at 12:17
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    @jeroen_de_schutter I must disagree. At least to me cauliflower is utterly unappetizing whereas kohlrabi (never knew the english name) is actually very good eaten raw. I would also strongly recommend eating raw as cooking it just spoils it imo. – DRF Jul 18 '17 at 15:03
  • Cauliflower with a creamy cheese sauce, Kohlrabi raw or cooked very well as a side dish - both great (and completely different). :) – AnoE Jul 18 '17 at 21:56
  • This also means that if you want some of kohlrabi and broccoli in a dish, you only have to buy the broccoli - broccoli stem is very close to kohlrabi when cooked (less mustard-y and fresh maybe). – rackandboneman Jul 19 '17 at 08:38
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Kohlrabi. Basically a form of turnip.

Ecnerwal
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  • Yes, though I'd say it's culinarily best comparable with celeriac. – leftaroundabout Jul 17 '17 at 20:39
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    Being a little picky I know, but although a kohlrabi is often used like a turnip and is also known as a German Turnip, it is much closer related to cabbage family and grows above ground, not an enlarged root like a turnip. The taste is very similar to the core of a cabbage, a bit more tender and sweeter as long as not too old. – dlb Jul 17 '17 at 20:50
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    The first word of this answer is correct. The rest is wrong: kohlrabi is not a relative of the turnip, it does not grow like a turnip, it tastes very different than a turnip, and it's prepared quite differently than a turnip. – Marti Jul 17 '17 at 21:41
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    @dlb it is not related to cabbage, it IS cabbage. See my answer. – BlackThorn Jul 17 '17 at 22:36
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    I don't have the rep to simply downvote, but I did click the down-button in agreement with dlb, marti, and tbears comments. It's a very brief answer also, tbear's is more informative. – Carl Jul 17 '17 at 23:29
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    @Marti It's most certainly a relative of the turnip. _Brassica oleracea_ (kohlrabi) is very closely related to _Brassica rapa_ (turnip). Botanists do not always agree on the boundaries between _Brassica_ species, which have of course been thoroughly confused by millennia of selective breeding and cross-breeding, and some may even classify them as the same species. – Mike Scott Jul 18 '17 at 12:41
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    @MikeScott: it's maybe a distant cousin of a turnip. Given that it's essentially a sibling of cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower, listing just the distant relation (which it doesn't resemble in anything other than rough shape) is seriously misleading. (And what the answer actually says is "basically a form of turnip", which is incorrect. "Basically a form of cabbage/broccoli/cauliflower/et al." would be correct.) – Marti Jul 18 '17 at 13:58
  • @MikeScott The key here is "relative to", not "a form of" as the answer wrongly states. – Calimo Jul 18 '17 at 14:00
  • As I originally stated, I was being picky as turnips and cabbage are related themselves, but it is much closer related to cabbage. It is not unusual to use them exactly like a turnip, but raw is probably more common at least in the US. If more leaves are left on you can immediately tell this is a stem product rather than a root item though. If one has never eaten the core of a head cabbage raw, likely they would not notice the similarity there as well. Anyway, comments, not discussion or semantics fight so moving on. – dlb Jul 18 '17 at 14:27
  • @Calimo The answer may well be wrong, but so is the comment to which I was responding. – Mike Scott Jul 18 '17 at 15:21