As much as my experience with vegetables is extensive, the turnip and I surprisingly have never met in the kitchen. It has always seemed like an extraneous ingredient – something you have to get rid of in the garden, so you end up throwing it into a pot with – whatever – and hope that it just cooks away. The turnip is just not the star-quality food I normally seek when selecting ingredients, but as a seasonal, local, and I do believe a bit of a lonely crop, I was compelled to take a turnip bundle home with me.

“What do you do with these turnips?” I dubiously asked the woman managing the vegetable booth.

“Make a soup.” She answered, while collecting my money.

I was beginning to picture an image resembling the children’s story, Stone Soup. Things just get thrown in the pot, and eventually a long simmer just works everything out somehow into a good meal.

“What kind of soup?” I asked.

“Turnip Soup.” And she was onto helping the next customer as I was left standing alone with the responsibility of 4 bulbous turnips.

Later that evening as the wind howled outside, I tentatively chopped my turnips, determined to make the quiet tuber a star. I found it to be much like a potato, yet with a higher water content and slightly sweeter flavor. I solicited the help of a single yam to further enhance the sweetness, alongside a minimal complimentary ingredient list, which included the basics: onion, garlic, etc.

A half hour passed. The smell of savory swelled. And finally, there it was: Turnip Soup.

The spotlight turned on. The turnip stepped out.

It was absolutely delicious.