ColdApp/ Garnish

Turnip Rose

O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?

(Juliet)

Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

Romeo:
[Aside] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?

Juliet:
‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy:
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What’s Montague? It is nor hand nor foot,
Nor arm nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O be some other name!
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose   (turnip)
By any other word would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
and for thy name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.

Thank you William.  I always think of this when I do a turnip rose. Why? I don’t know. I just always think “a rose by any other name” and then realized where that line comes.

I have been making these beautiful little roses for years. I have tinted them yellows, orange and pinks. I absolutely love these as a platter garnish. These are beautiful as a centerpiece on a platter of cucumber sandwiches at a lady’s luncheon. Or, any kind of garnish or a platter or you could do a whole centerpiece of these turnip roses.

I know you are thinking, these look really complicated, BUT, if you have tried making my citrus flowers, these are made basically made the same way, just start rolling and stacking and before you know it you have a beautiful rose.

What a lowly little root vegetable with nothing exciting going on in it’s life.  Oh, she dreams for something so much more glamorous than a pot full of turnips and greens.

She peels off her outer covering to see what is revealed.

Sliced up and ready for a new look.

A thin sliced ready to roll.

The back side of the rose after you have added layers of turnip slices. Pick as much as needed to hold together.

What she looks like before she has her hair “colored”. I wouldn’t leave them white as they tend to turn brownish.

Now which one of those roses would take the prize — the “Knock Out Rose” or “The Turnip Rose”. So a rose by any other name,  could be the lowly turnip rose.

Turnip Rose

First and most important — you will need a mandoline to make these. Start with fresh turnips. Do not get the ones that look like they are starting to dry on the outside. Peel the turnips as thinly as possible. A potato peeler works the best. Experiment with your mandoline until you get the thinnest whole slice of turnip. You want these as thin as possible because it will make rolling easier. Drop these slices into some warm salted water. Let them stand for 10-15 minutes and they will soften somewhat.

Now, pick up one very thin slice and roll it up. See picture above. Then you simply start wrapping more slices around, overlapping previous slice by a little. Once you have make the size of rose you want, start sticking toothpicks through the bottom, crisscrossing until you have all the petals firmly together.

Take the rose in your hand and kind of flare out some of the petals. I usually drop the finished roses into ice water that I have tinted (with food coloring) for about 10-15 minutes. They will crisp up. Drain, cover with plastic wrap until you are ready to use them.

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9 Comments

  • Reply
    Jim Clark
    April 15, 2010 at 8:03 am

    That was the neatest thing I have ever seen involving a turnip. It is beautiful.

  • Reply
    Travis
    April 15, 2010 at 10:16 am

    That looks amazing!

  • Reply
    Dawn (KitchenTravels)
    April 15, 2010 at 11:05 am

    Awesome! Reminds me of the beautiful flowers made out of fish by experienced sushi chefs. Too bad the white ones turn brown – I love that creamy white color. But the pink is gorgeous, too. Great idea!

    • Reply
      Sherry
      June 10, 2010 at 8:12 pm

      This one turned out a little pink. I usually do light yellow are a very pale pink.

  • Reply
    Jen Francis
    April 15, 2010 at 1:43 pm

    That rose is so beautiful. I can’t imagine that it doesn’t require a lot of time and patience.

    • Reply
      Sherry
      June 10, 2010 at 8:11 pm

      Jen, believe it or not, this probably takes less than ten minutes to make.

  • Reply
    katy
    April 21, 2010 at 12:48 pm

    this is so cool!!!!! how do you get the toothpicks hidden?

    • Reply
      Sherry
      June 10, 2010 at 8:08 pm

      I insert the picks from the bottom and where they show when I flip it over I usually stick some parsley or herbs or flower leaves to cover them up.

  • Reply
    Grilled Corn and Edamame Salad «
    July 17, 2015 at 5:01 am

    […] But, this is one of my favorite ones and how appropriate for a summer party with the ladies. The Turnip Rose has had over 9,000 views. Hope some of those people have made this. If you have a mandolin, […]

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