How I keep half a swede from drying at the cut

A big British swede is often cut for two — one half goes into the heat, the other waits on the board with the cut open to the air. In hours the yellow middle goes dull, the edge hardens, and in the stew it already tastes of dust. I shut the cut at once with film pressed tight, or set the half cut-side on a plate in a cold box — the air does not dry the yellow flesh.

How I keep half a swede from drying at the cut. Turnip is another “wood” in the teeth; fennel is anise after the knife; beetroot is pink juice. Here it is swede itself: a large yellow root after the knife, shut the cut until the next heat — not a speech about small turnip from the market.

If the cut already went white — I trim the dry rim and grate the middle into stew or soup. I don’t soak the whole half: swede turns soapy. I’m not picking a “bigger” root from the crate in this note — only the half already lying at ours.

I don’t need a swede with a dull cut by supper. I need a half that is still juicy inside. In your kitchen is the swede cut shut at once — or left facing the air until evening?