QUICK DESCRIPTION: GILFEATHER TURNIP
alharvest.org/ark-product.jsp?id=52
The Gilfeather is an egg-shaped, rough-skinned root, but unlike its cousins, it has a mild taste that becomes sweet and a creamy white color after the first frost. While the hardy Gilfeather turnip does well in nearly any climate, a touch of frost contributes to its unusual taste and texture. Developed and named after John Gilfeather from Wardsboro, Vermont, this turnip is one of the state's unique contributions to cold weather agriculture. Mr. Gilfeather carefully guarded his stock to ensure that no one else could propagate the vegetable. However, some seeds slipped by and a few folks have continued to grow the Gilfeather Turnip after Mr. Gilfeather died.
Video about the gilfeather turnip (23 minutes)
hive.org/details/TheGilfeatherTurnipRootedInWardsboro
Gilfeather Turnip Recipes
heartofnewengland.com/food/veg/gilfeather-turnip-recipes-3-Food.html
GILFEATHER? TURNIP SOUP
1?4 lb. butter 1 cup half and half
3 lbs. Gilfeather turnips, 1?4 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
peeled & chopped salt and pepper to taste
4 large onions, chopped fresh spinach, washed and de-
1 clove garlic, minced stemmed
8 cups unsalted chicken stock
Melt butter in 5 quart kettle and sauté chopped onion and garlic until soft but not browned. Add stock and chopped turnips and cook until tender. Drain and reserve some of the liquid. Purée mixture in food processor until smooth. Put through a food mill or sieve and return to kettle. Add seasonings and half
and half. Mix well. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Add reserved cooking liquid if soup is too thick. Sauté spinach in a small amount of olive oil until just wilted. Use spinach as a garnish on top of the soup before serving.
CIDER SCALLOPED GILFEATHER TURNIPS
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup apple cider or juice
1?2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
1?2 cup Jarlsberg cheese, shredded
1 cup milk
1?2 cup chicken broth
1?4 teaspoon black pepper, ground
1?2 cup Vermont cheddar cheese, shredded
2 lbs. Gilfeather turnips, peeled and thinly sliced
Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Put oven rack in center position. Grease 10 x 2 round baking dish or an 8 x 10 rectangular baking dish; set aside. Place flour in a medium heavy saucepan; gradually add milk, whisking until smooth. Whisk in cider, broth, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat, whisking constantly. Cook one minute more, remove from heat and set aside.
Combine cheeses. Arrange half of the sliced turnips (slightly overlapping) in prepared baking dish. Sprinkle half of cheeses on half of the turnips. Arrange another layer of turnips on top of cheese. Pour cider mixture over turnips.
Bake 25 minutes. Remove baking dish from oven. Using a metal spatula, press down on the turnips. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and return to oven. Bake until turnips are fork-tender and the top is crusted and lightly browned – about 20 minutes more. Let stand 20 minutes before serving.
FLUFFY GILFEATHER? TURNIP SOUFFLE
2 tablespoons butter 1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon onion, chopped 1 tablespoon sugar
3 cups Gilfeather turnips, pinch of cayenne pepper
cooked and mashed 2 egg yolks, beaten
1 teaspoon salt 2 egg whites, stiffly beaten
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Melt butter in a large pan. Add onion and sauté until a delicate brown. Add turnips, salt, sugar, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Mix well. Add the beaten egg yolks. Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Put in greased baking dish or soufflé dish. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until solid in middle.
ARTICLE ON THE GILFEATHER TURNIP
http://vegetablesofinterest.typepad.com/vegetablesofinterest/2007/11/gilfeather-turn.html
Gilfeather Turnip
(Brassica napobrassica )
There is something about a wrong name that invites a second look. It might be a simple typographic error like the one that hit CNN recently. (Wolf Blitzer stood in front of a larger-than-life portrait of Osama Bin Ladin while an urgently colored message crawled across the screen reading “Where is Obama Now?”) Or it could be one of those more-sad-than-cute kiddy names that suggest the parents can only spell phonetically. Then there are those wrong names that are factual errors. Examples include “democratic elections”, “jumbo shrimp” and “Gilfeather Turnip.” It does make one think “What’s it all coming to?” when someone names a rutabaga after himself and calls it a turnip.
The late John Gilfeather of Wardsboro, Vermont is described as a “lanky bachelor of few words.” Mr. Gilfeather gained local fame in the early 1900’s for growing turnips and in particular a unique variety of uncommon tenderness and sweetness. Gillfeather’s turnips are robust but slow growers and unlike other ‘turnips’ their white flesh remains tender in even the largest specimen. Many note that early Vermont frosts only increase their mild, sweet taste.
Gilfeather never offered a biography of his creation but, of course, he was a Vermonter and thus taciturn by nature. Some non-Vermont people (“tourists” is the subtle pejorative used in Vermont) have noted its resemblance to German varieties but no one has produced a twin to prove the point.
Gilfeather lore suggests that Gilfeather had insights beyond those of most farmers. He understood the necessity of protecting his market and he allegedly trimmed the tops and roots from the ‘turnips’ he sold to prevent propagation of the Gilfeather type. Near the time of his death Gilfefather’s precautions were apparently breeched by unidentified neighbors and his namesake continues to be grown and some seed is available on a small scale.
The most curious root of the Gilfeather story remains unexplored. How it is that he called a rutabaga a turnip is unclear. Botanically rutabagas and turnips might be called cousins and in some varieties and names get a bit blurred. But this is one rutabaga that looks like a turnip about as much as a Vermont barn looks like a Manhattan skyscraper. Perhaps John Gilfeather had a streak of that high Vermont humor.
The Gilfeather Turnip has recently been honored as an addition to Slow Food’s Ark of Taste.
BACKGROUND ON ANNUAL GILFEATHER TURNIP FESTIVAL IN WARDSBORO
heartofnewengland.com/travel/vt/turnip-festival.html
The Gilfeather Turnip Festival:
Celebrating the Lowly Tuber In Wardsboro, Vermont
By Amy Kleppner
New England is full of festivals. They range from A to Z—apples to zucchini, with garlic, maple sugar, pumpkins, strawberries, and just about every other fruit and vegetable in between.
But Wardsboro, Vermont’s Gilfeather Turnip Festival is special: it celebrates the tuber that originated in the town (population under 900) and is one of only two vegetables registered as an heirloom variety by the state.
The festival takes place the end of October every year. Admission is free. Lunch, including Gilfeather Turnip Soup, is available. Also for sale: organic produce, turnips, craft items, and special turnip-themed products: tee shirts, postcards, Gilfeather Turnip videos and DVD’s, and a new publication, The Gilfeather Turnip Cookbook & Other Recipes Rooted in Wardsboro.
A popular feature of the festival every year is the free tasting of turnip delicacies from 2 to 4 p.m. You’ll be amazed at what talented local cooks have done with the lowly turnip. In the past they have offered a variety of turnip delicacies, including turnip bread, carrot and turnip cake, mashed potatoes and turnips, and other unusual turnip treats.
The local turnip is apparently—its history is somewhat mysterious – the descendent of a sweet, white German turnip. It became part of Wardsboro history when John Gilfeather started growing them on his hillside farm in the early 1900s. He developed a unique product, probably through hybridization. He planted many rows of turnips and sold them by the cartload in Brattleboro, Northampton, and other markets, but he kept the seeds to himself. He cut off
the tops and bottoms of his turnips so that no one else could reproduce them.
Over the years Gilfeather turnips have found their way into countless stews, sauces, and soups. They are often boiled and mashed in with the potatoes, and according to Wales Read, some people like to cut them into thin slices and eat them raw. Local Brit Shine noted that deer also appreciate a good turnip, and Carol Backus, present owner of Gilfeather Farm, has found deer eating not only the green tops but the roots of her turnips as well.
Despite praise from Greg Parks, the Gilfeather turnip’s humble origin and lowly status may overshadow its fame as a gourmet delicacy. Beatrice Read recalled that on the family farm they raised them by the bushel, ground them up, and fed them to the cows. “It made the milk taste a little funny,” she said, “but you got used to it.”