Unusual Vegetable Plants

Kohl Rabi has rather different growing requirements to the more popular Turnip which have always meant that in the past it was always more popular in certain parts of Europe than here in the U.K. For one thing the plants need warmer weather than we normally get and they will also happily grow in the shallower soils, common in Southern parts of Europe, where true root vegetables wouldn’t grow. Another useful point about this plant is that it quickly matures from seed and can be ready to harvest in a couple of months.

Kohl Rabi is not really a root vegetable although it does look like that, but the edible part of the plant is in fact the swollen base the same as with Florence Fennel and Celeriac. Like most vegetables, the mature plants needs to be harvested and eaten before they get too big and tough. Do not let then get bigger than a tennis ball and do not try and store them as they don’t keep.

Kohl Rabi is very much an undiscovered vegetable here in the U.K. although it is quite versatile in the kitchen. If it is grated and eaten raw with salads, it has a nutty Celery taste and if it is cooked like a more traditional vegetable it has a taste said to be somewhere between a turnip and a cabbage. The leaves should not be discarded if they are kept fresh when the plants are harvested, because they can be boiled and eaten like Spinach.