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Original poster

The dying art of swede carving

142 replies

MildGreenDairyLiquid · 30/10/2024 12:58

A lot is said about traditional crafts dying out - thatching, stonemasonry, stained glass. But what about swede carving?

I’m pretty sure I didn’t see a pumpkin in this country until I was 35.

Before that it was the humble swede, now cruelly forgotten.

Tastes nicer too.

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LushLemonTart · 01/11/2024 10:13

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 01/11/2024 10:02

We were very poor and couldn't afford a swede - we had to carve a conker. That's quite tricky too (and the squirrels used to pinch them).

A conker? You were posh. I could only draw a shape of a carved swede with my breath on the window. That's the one window that wasn't cracked.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 01/11/2024 10:02

We were very poor and couldn't afford a swede - we had to carve a conker. That's quite tricky too (and the squirrels used to pinch them).

Compash · 01/11/2024 09:55

Ditto the effort, the smell of charred lid, the dangers... 70's childhood.

These days I don't think A&E has the infrastructure for so many knife slippage wounds... 🩸

Waterboatlass · 31/10/2024 17:23

I've got it down to about 1cm thick but it's not massive! If it was a huge swede it would've taken all day!

WelshPool · 31/10/2024 17:18

midgetastic · 31/10/2024 14:24

It's more how thick can you get away with

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And how much swede you want in your mash, obviously.

midgetastic · 31/10/2024 14:24

Waterboatlass · 31/10/2024 12:56

How thick does the shell need to be?

It's more how thick can you get away with

Waterboatlass · 31/10/2024 12:56

How thick does the shell need to be?

RaraRachael · 31/10/2024 12:42

I remember the Hallowe'en masks - we used to call them False Faces

screamtoabloodysigh · 30/10/2024 23:20

My poor mum used to carve them. Nothing fancy, just enough space for a stub of candle. You never forget the smell.

My kids are amazed when I tell them pumpkins just weren't a thing.

Printedword · 30/10/2024 23:17

I never did this as a child, but all power to anyone who can carve a swede.

I love them roasted with roast potatoes

ManyATrueWord · 30/10/2024 23:15

Swedes can fuck off. I'll take a pumpkin over a rutabaga turnip any bloody day. They come hollow you know.saves hours of work.

BurntBroccoli · 30/10/2024 23:13

I had a go a few years ago just to remember the lovely smell of the burning turnip.
It was bloody hard work!

The dying art of swede carving
Moon30 · 30/10/2024 22:59

Aww this brings back memories! 🥰

TobiasForgesContactLense · 30/10/2024 22:55

We never ate swede in our house as my DM didn't like them. However one year she won a swede in a whist drive (I think it was the prize for coming last!) that happened to be near Halloween. As this was the 80's and pumpkins weren't really a thing here yet - and even if they were there is no way that my DP's would have bought us one - we had a go at carving the bastard swede that would never be eaten. It is a testament to the effort that went into it and the appalling smell when the candle was lit that I still remember it now.

It was years before I actually ate swede and realised that it was rather nice.

Actually this thread has cheered me as I wasn't looking forward to carving DS's pumpkins tomorrow but I now realise it could be worse - they could be bloody swedes!

WelshPool · 30/10/2024 22:53

The cheap shop in town sold masks, they had two choices usually, a fluorescent green witch mask or one which looked a bit like Frankenstein. Year in year out that was your lot.

Add a bin bag, turnip and a brush and you were truly evil. I adore Halloween, my favourite season.

NOTANUM · 30/10/2024 22:51

Large potatoes with a fairy cake candle also works a treat 👍

Autumnweddingguest · 30/10/2024 22:48

Miloarmadillo2 · 30/10/2024 22:38

I have yet to chop a swede for a casserole etc without impaling myself. Only a fool would try to carve one.

There was a knack to it. Stab it loads of times in criss-cross patterns, then scrape it out with a spoon. It only takes about 30 hours of concerted effort. Grin

Autumnweddingguest · 30/10/2024 22:46

SauvignonBlonk · 30/10/2024 13:00

We used to get the job of hollowing out a swede: it took bloody ages. Chiselling it out with a grapefruit spoon for what seemed like days. Pumpkin is for wimps 🤣🤣

It did. It took a week of after-school effort to scrape out enough to carve it. And then the whole house reeked of burnt swede for days after Halloween.

Ivymedication · 30/10/2024 22:44

My dad used to do it with his drill too.

I'd totally forgotten that we brought them with us when singing for pennies.

The string dipped in wax so not to rip your fingers off.

With a candle ripped in half stuck at an angle in a smoking turnip, whilst dressed in a witches outfit made entirely of black binbags and crepe paper.

The first year pumpkins arrived here was in 1996, when tesco came. Dad and Dsis misread the signage and came home with a £15 pumpkin. Mum made them return it...and Dad thunderesly attacked more turnips with his drill and chisel.

Miloarmadillo2 · 30/10/2024 22:38

I have yet to chop a swede for a casserole etc without impaling myself. Only a fool would try to carve one.

JaceLancs · 30/10/2024 22:34

I’m 60 and it was always a swede
DM used a very sharp knife and took ages
We did have tea light sized small candles and used to make a handle out of garden twine

tiredandbaggy · 30/10/2024 22:31

YABVU - I have permanent callouses on my knuckles and have wept blood over too many a turnip. Thank god those dark days are gone! Turnips are for eating not for decorative utility.

Gall10 · 30/10/2024 22:27

Willyoujustbequiet · 30/10/2024 20:27

This

They are turnips up here. Always have been, always will be. This is a hill I will die on lol.

It's turnip lanterns and haggis, neeps and tatties. Not swedes!

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Amen!

AlexandraLeaving · 30/10/2024 21:32

I still struggle to believe that pumpkins are Real Actual Things and not something made up in a cartoon. Turnip lanterns all the way for us growing up. I was teaching the song about 'I made a turnip lantern' to the kids in school the other day and I could see they just didn't understand what it was all about. Sad.

Opentooffers · 30/10/2024 21:25

Bit behind the southerners up north maybe. 53, was always a swede and they were an absolute bastard to carve. Often involving minor stabbing or cutting injuries. Bloody hours, it was painful, I didn't even like eating swede then - do now though.
Best thing ever when pumpkins arrived. So much easier, it was a revelation. Would not be moved to do it again.

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