Rutabaga was once considered a food of last resort in both Germany and France due to its association with food shortages in World War I and World War II. Boiled stew with rutabaga and water as the only ingredients (Steckrübeneintopf) was a typical food in Germany during the famines and food shortages of World War I caused by the Allied blockade (the "Steckrübenwinter" or Turnip Winter of 1916/17) and between 1945 and 1949. As a result, many older Germans had unhappy memories of this food.