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Being the bulby root of a vegetable that grows above the soil, the Turkol is often mistaken for a solid kind of cabbage. The long leaves with red dots cover the Turkol most of the summer and keep it cool enough to stay juicy. The leaves are not edible but are used for decorations on Gräinsday. The leaves sprout from a bulb, the actual Turkol as it is sold in the shops. The bulb is about as large as a mans fist, the outside covered in a tough bright green scale, the inside is white and juicy. When cut, the Turkol bleeds a greenish juice, that can be drunk right away, even though the taste is a bit bitter. A halved Turkol shows a strange pattern of green lines in the white substance. In parts of Thirun and Salamandran it is believed one can tell the future out of these lines, depending on the shapes that are visible in the pattern. Sudzi use the Turkol on their annual Offspring day when they celebrate the generations after them. Underneath the bulb are roots that go deep and far into the soil. When one of these roots reaches the surface, it might form a new bulb. The Turkol-bulb has one large red flower in spring. However, this flower should be cut off because the plant will be less juicy if it stays on. The flowers are used to decorate the ploughs in springtime, when the ploughs are pulled to the villages in order to make them (the inhabitants and the fields) fertile. The Turkol is a plant from the plains of Thirun. It has been imported by the Sudzi very early, and is now a common plant in Salamandran. The Sudzi have developed the Baurghs Turkol, also known as Grandmothers Turkol. This plant differs from the wild one in size, it is larger, but therefore less juicy. It also has lost many of its red dots. The Baurghs Turkol can be dried, then sliced and fried in a pan in hot butter. The fried Turkol is then cooled down in a mixture of herbs and fried again a few hours later. This is a national recipe among the Sudzi. Because the Turkol doesn’t grow on the heights of the White Mountains, and certainly not in the cold valley of Fiutha, there is an export of Turkol from Klainzkrizzon to Het Koude Dal. At least a hundred cart loads of Turkol arrive in Fiutha each year. On the markets in Fiutha it is one of the expensive delicatessen, and the Sudzi are looking for better methods of transport. Some of them have suggested a railroad between Furdu in Klainskrizzon and Fiutha in Het Koude Dal, but that turned out to be a bit too ambitious. The Turkol is family of the Virlef plant, but not dangerous at all. Eating the leaves may cause sickness and fever, but never death. Related topics: |