The Frenchman, the swede and the artichoke...

by Jerry Coe
February 5th, 2010

In a recent article about the importance of tea in his life, the author Alexander McCall Smith quoted the essayist and inventor of the Chinese typewriter, Lin Yutang’s wonderful question: ‘what is patriotism but the love of the good things one ate in childhood?’.

This came to mind when reading recent reports that the French were rediscovering a taste for parsnips, swede (which, incidentally, the Swedes call kålrot (cabbage root)) and Jerusalem artichokes (pictured above) – which the French call les legumes oublies (the forgotten vegetables). Perhaps the French now concede that Britain was right to stick by its traditional veg whilst they drifted from their roots (pun intended!).

Food – and the place that supposedly humble vegetables like parsnips and swede occupy in a country’s history – can say a lot about cultural heritage. I like the thought that patriotism is truer to the food we ate as children than it might be to the other badges of cultural identity – to the flag, to language or to an anthem.

But surely patriotism boils down to more than this?!