Founder of the Scottish Food Guide,

Wendy Barrie wants people to make more of the tumshie

Too often tumshies only get an airing on January 25, but they are a versatile and delicious brassica worthy of more outings.

In olden days Scots would have eaten wild brassicas but it was the Swedes who commercialised the neeps we know today and their popularity spread as frost-resistant food for both humans and livestock.

Over the border in England, ask for a turnip and you won’t get a neep – you have to ask for a swede. Trust me, my daughter tried it and had to call me from the shop in Newcastle to translate – she was cooking a Burns supper for her student flatmates and wasn’t having much success in tracking down a tumshie.

Charles Townshend was nicknamed Turnip Townshend, because of the pioneering role he played in the Agricultural Revolution with his fourcrop rotation method, allowing crops, particularly turnips, to sustain livestock over winters, changing farming methods from then to this day.

These days, carrot cakes and courgette cakes are popular recipes, so I thought it was about time to pay homage to the humble neep with a tasty bake with a difference – neep and almond loaf

Ingredients

• 90mls Summer Harvest rapeseed oil

• 100g soft brown sugar

• 100g turnip, grated finely

• 2 eggs

• 100g plain flour

• 1tsp baking powder

• Pinch of Blackthorn sea salt

• 1tsp cinnamon

• 25g chopped almonds

• Whole almonds to decorate

METHOD

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190C/170 Fan/375F/Gas Mark 5 and line a medium-sized loaf tin.

2. Whisk the sugar and oil in a bowl then whisk in eggs one at a time. Fold in all dry ingredients – apart from the whole almonds. Place mix in lined tin and decorate with whole almonds.

3. Bake for 30-40mins depending on the size of the tin. It is ready when well risen and set – test with a skewer that should come out clean and not sticky. Allow to cool in tin a few minutes before turning out onto a cooling tray.

4. Delicious served with lashings of good quality butter.

Neep and almond loaf makes a tasty treat.