What’s a neep?
So you’ve heard of haggis and you already know it’s Scotland’s most famous dish. You probably also know that it’s served with tatties, and you’re already well aware that this means mashed potatoes, in English. But what about the neeps? What on earth is that?
Well, “neeps” is just the Scots word for swede – that hard winter vegetable that people also use in soups and stews. You might also hear Scottish people saying “nips”, which is much more obviously short for “turnips”. It’s a hard job to peel and chop the neeps, and then we boil and mash, then add a bit of seasoning. Our secret (and non-traditional!) addition is turmeric which has superb anti-inflammatory properties as well as a great yellow colour! And there you have them: neeps!
Fresh Turnip Swede isolated on white background.
We are asked all the time to translate “neeps” into other languages, so here you go!
- Arabic: Lafat naba’at
- Chinese: Wùjing
- Croatian: Repa
- Czech: Vodnice
- Danish: Majroe
- Dutch: Raap
- Finnish: Nauris
- French: Navet
- German: Steckrübe
- Greek: Gongýli
- Hebrew: Lefet
- Hungarian: Fehér retek/répa
- Icelandic: Næpa
- Italian: Rapa
- Japanese: Kabu
- Polish: Rzepa
- Portuguese: Nabo
- Romanian: Napi
- Russia: Repa
- Slovenian: Repo
- Spanish: Nabo
- Swedish: Kalrot
- Thai: Haw phak kad