Here at Scottish Recipes we are often asked what are neeps, haggis and tatties. Below we'll explain and show the difference between turnips, swedes and neeps as well as what tatties are.






Pictured above is a Swede, a purple headed, white bottomed, root vegetable which turns a bright orange or yellow when diced, boiled and mashed. Some people refer to the mashing as bashed. The name comes from its roots, (pardon the pun!) in Sweden. It does well during the winter and tolerates frosty weather and grows well in Scotland. Here we call it a neep, and they are larger than a turnip and have a sweeter taste. On Halloween we carve them into lanterns. They need a sharp knife and lots of strength!

In America, the equivalent vegetable would be a rutabaga. This name is derived from the Swedish for this root veg, rotabagga.









The photo above shows haggis, neeps and tatties, which is the Scottish name for potatoes. These are also traditionally served cut up, boiled and mashed. They are a favourite on Burns Night.

Buy Haggis Neeps and Tatties with Whisky.

Turnip is more of a white root vegetable and the colour remains unchanged once cooked.