Where can i find turnips (rzepa) in Poznan?

I am having problem finding turnips, but i didn't search thoroughly . they don't have it in biedronka, Lidl , Piotr i pawel and the rynek near my place (rynek Wildecki), does anyone have an idea where i can search for them ?

Lots of luck in finding any, you might check the open air markets in Lazarz (just off Głogowska) or Jężyce (on Dąbrowskiego) but Polish people mostly don't think of turnips as edible (they also don't like rutabagas 'brukiew' which I don't understand either).

You might find biała rzepa, a kind of long all white turnip but that's about it in my experience.

They're pretty rare, but you see one that is similar to a small rutabaga occasional in the winter in supermarkets, but they appear not to be popular at all. The radish-like purple and white ones are unknown, but the oriental radish "daikon" is available everywhere, and makes a passable substitute, either raw or cooked, although Poles eat them raw.

Another thing your never going to see is parsnips (pasternaki in Polish). They are completely unknown. You will, however, see these things that look deceptively identical to parsnips, but beware. Parsnips they ain't. They are actually roots of the parsley plant (pietruszka in Polish), and are used in making chicken soup. They taste, to quote Douglas Adams, "almost, but not quite, entirely unlike parsnips". In other words, just plain awful.

The reason why i want turnips is to pickle them, they're really tasty once pickled ^_^

Then the daikon radishes are what you are looking for. They are often pickled in China, Japan and Korea. Pickled daikon is a must have at every Buddhist meal.

Initially I didn't either but was told it was a hang-over from the Nazi occupation period. The brukiew, often the only solid ingredient in a big pot of water cooked into a thin swill, was a concenetration-camp standby so they must have been plentiful and cheap back then. After the war ended Poles wanted no part of it.

I'd heard of the bad WWIII poverty conotations but not the concentration camp ones. To further banish the vegetable they created a myth that it's hard to digest (this, from people who combine vodka and boiled potatoes).

The mother of a very good friend won't eat rabbit for the same reason, it reminds her too much of WWII or post WWII poverty when it was almost the only meat available....

In Krakow, I regularly buy black turnip in Carrefour market. There must be a few in Poznań too. However, you`d better be a fussy picker as they like selling stale stuff.