Here we find a vegetable which is popular in some parts of
Europe but has found little favour in
Britain. This is surprising as kohl rabi is a
root-forming brassica which does much better in hot and dry weather than the much more popular turnip.
The swollen edible part of kohl rabi is not relly aroot at all- it is the stem base ('globe') and so is able to succeed in shallow soils where turnips and swedes would fail. It reaches about 1 ft high, making it low growing. It also quickly matures, progressing from sowing to harvesting in a couple of months. Phrases used by textbooks to describe the taste are not much use- 'a cross beteen turnip and cabbage' for the boiled vegetable, 'nutty with a slight celery taste' for the grated raw globe. This can be both tasty and tender, but only if you grow it quickly and lift when the globes are undersized.