The swede should be nicely shaped, purple at the top, with a narrow smooth crown, a well-defined central taproot and a minimum of secondary roots. It should be unblemished and undamaged.

Beware of buying swedes that are very light in weight: they may be hollow. Choose young vegetables. Larger ones can be tough and fibrous and have a stronger taste.
 

Keep in a cool, dark place. Refrigerate for up to 10 days. As they age, swedes dry out and soften.

Scrape and peel swedes. Cut in long slices or in quarters.

Remove the core if it is brownish (caused by a lack of boron in the soil.).

If its flavour is too strong, first blanch for 10 minutes. Drain and continue cooking in fresh water.

Boil in lightly salted water until tender. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid to use in puréeing them, or as the base for a sauce.

Even though often confused with the turnip, the swede requires almost twice as long a cooking time.

Begin caramelizing some butter and honey. Deglaze with two tablespoons of water. Add swedes sliced 3 mm thick and cook, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with roast duck.

Stuffed - Blanch a swede for 10 minutes and stuff it with a mixture of potato and turnip pulp, mushroom duxelles or homestyle stuffing.

Swedes will enliven stews that are a bit bland.

As "French fries": their high sugar content will caramelize in hot oil.

Soup - cook swede in chicken stock with a few potatoes. Purée in a blender.

Add cream and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Finland
Purée swedes with cream, bread crumbs, molasses, beaten egg, cinnamon, nutmeg and some of their cooking liquid. Pour into a baking dish. Cover with bread crumbs and dot with butter. Place in the oven.

Norway
Purée equal parts of swede and potato with salt, pepper, milk, some cooking liquid and a big pinch of sugar. Serve drizzled with melted butter.

Sweden
Peel and dice the swedes. Cook with a very small amount of water, honey, salt and Pepper.