KUMD's annual reveal of the Vegetable of the Year featured an ode to same by Duluth Poet Laureate Gary Boelhower, an introduction by the Duluth Community Garden Program, and turns out to be a cross between a cabbage and a turnip (??)!
VEGETABLE OF THE YEAR 2019 It could be the name for a dance it has that tango kind of feel step and swirl, break and glide but it’s as down to earth as earth the food of commoners, not kings miners, lumberjacks, surly mechanics with grease under their fingernails the people’s fare, not often seen in fine dining establishments. But this could all change in Duluth when it becomes the vegetable of the year. We could serve it here with chanterelles and a champagne shallot butter sauce pair it with caviar and a cabernet cuvee. Kobe beef step aside. King Salmon pass your crown to this hearty brassica delicious in stews and pasties. You’ve been called the food of last resort in Germany and France during both world wars. Still you have your own festival in Askov and in Cumberland and you’ve been carved into lanterns for generations. We’ll plant you in the fine soil of Duluth we’ll dice and mash and boil and roast you until you know you are our chosen vegetable of the year Swede, neep, rutabaga, whichever name you choose. ~ Gary Boelhower, Duluth Poet Laureate
