The rutabaga, known in Britain as the swede, is the large, dense storage root of Brassica napus var. napobrassica, a hardy cool-season brassica that arose as a cross between the turnip and the cabbage. Beneath its purple-shouldered tan skin lies firm yellow-orange flesh that cooks down sweet, earthy and mildly cabbagey — a winter staple mashed as Scottish neeps, roasted, simmered into stews and folded into the Cornish pasty.