Beetroot.

The brightest, most beautifully-hued root, beetroot was originally grown for its greens in ancient Middle East.

Later cultivated for medicinal purposes in the Middle Ages and subsequently used to make wine in the 19th century, today it is mostly known for its delicately bitter-sweet, earthy root. 

Widely popular in Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe, beetroot exists in an extensive number of varieties and can be cooked and served in countless ways: as a protagonist, a side or garnish; hot or cold; raw or cooked. The most common variety is the deep crimson round type, although a rainbow of colours and a variety of shapes are easily found on offer today. 

“There are an amazing number of different varieties: one reference book illustrates eighteen totally different plants” - Arabella Boxer, 1974.

Rich in potassium and calcium as well as sodium and phosphorus, the regular consumption of beetroot has been suggested to provide considerable health benefits. (Although the consumption only of beetroot, as occurred in some parts of Europe after the WWI, is not advised, resulting in a particular condition known as the mangerwuzel disease.) 

The roots can be eaten raw or steamed, baked or boiled. When used raw, they can be sliced thinly and presented beautifully as a carpaccio, or grated roughly to better absorb a dressing. In its raw form, beetroot is delicious dressed with a tangy vinaigrette made with wine vinegar or lemon. When cooked, it is also delicious with a creamier dressing, made with soured cream, mayonnaise or mustard.

Grated beetroot.

“Beetroot leaves are perfectly edible” - Larousse Gastronomique.

When freshly harvested, beetroot can be found sold with the leaves still attached. The leaves are even richer in vitamins than the roots, and can be eaten separately or together, although (just like Swiss chard) the two should always be cooked separately. 

While in England beetroot is often sold already boiled, in Italy beetroot is typically sold roasted, often alongside similarly roasted onions, both still in their skins – and both make a simple yet flavoursome winter salad, together or individually, dressed with salt, pepper and olive oil. Anchovies can also be added, with or without the inclusion of vinegar; with the further addition of garlic this is a popular way to eat beetroot in the Southern France. 

Fresh beetroot.

With leaves attached.

When roasting the roots, wrap in foil and bake for 2 hours or so at 200 degrees. Boiling takes anything from 1-2 hours.  As for the leaves, proceed as you would with spinach: young leaves can be used in salad or boiled for just a few minutes, drained and dressed with olive oil or butter

A old Greek beetroot salad recipe makes use of both the roots and the leaves in one dish – 

As given by Elizabeth Luard, in European Peasant Cookery:

Cook the roots for 40-50 minutes until tender. Separately, cook the leaves and stems for 5-10 minutes until soft. Peel the roots as soon as they are cool enough to handle and slice. Chop the leaves and stems. Pile the leaves in the middle of the serving dish and surround them with overlapping circles of the sliced beets. Mix salt and fresh lemon juices and dress the leaves. Drizzle olive oil over the roots and sprinkle finely chopped garlic. 

This is a delicious accompaniment to simply grilled meat or fish, ideally with the famous Greek garlic dip and good Greek bread. 

Look for small beets which are packed with more flavour and quicker to cook. And always cook the roots in their skin, to ensure as much flavour and nutrients are retained. 

Serving. 

The simplest way to serve warm beetroot is to peel once slightly cooled and cut into chunks and toss in butter or cream, with salt and pepper, and fresh herbs such as dill. In the Mediterranean it may be served with olive oil and lemon.

Vinagret.

A classic Russian beetroot salad.

Most common preparations with beetroot are soups and salads, both winter and summer varieties. In Italy there is even risotto, and in the Tyrol region both spatzel and canederli can be found made with beetroot. 

In Sweden beetroot is often also combined with meat in meatballs or burgers. And many cultures also pickle beetroot for a delicious sweet-tangy accompaniment to various dishes. 

Beetroot can also be used in cakes and muffins, bringing natural moisture and sweetness (just like the carrot) to baked goods. And not to be forgotten is beetroot juice – a wonderfully sweet complement to a mix of other vegetable juices, such as carrot, fennel and ginger. 

 Beetroot pairs particularly well with oily fish such as herring, anchovies and salmon, a popular combination in Scandinavia, the Baltics and Russia where it can be found in salads of many varieties involving some combinations of vegetables that include potatoes, apple, peas, carrot, onion and pickles. The dressing is typically a vinaigrette or mayonnaise.  

In Russia this is made into an elaborate and ceremonious dish called “herring under fur” – a immensely delightful and attractive concoction that brightens up most celebratory tables. It involves several layers of different ingredients that together form a beautifully colourful savoury cake: finished with a layer of grated beetroot and topped off with a smothering of mayonnaise, giving the herring a decadent, pinky-white “fur coat”. 

For a simpler, yet still storied and delicious beetroot and herring salad, the venerable fourth generation institution of Jewish appetizers in New York’s Lower East Side -  Russ and Daughters - has the following recipe: an apple, herring and diced red onion and pickles salad, dressed with a mustard vinaigrette made with red wine vinegar, honey and dill, salt and pepper and a teaspoon of sugar. After cooking, the beetroot is cut up and left to marinade in a separate dressing made with red wine vinegar, mustard, vegetable oil and sugar for 2 hours, and then combined with the other ingredients and dressing. 

 For a cooked beetroot salad without fish, try experimenting with a tarragon vinaigrette, for some extra sophistication and flavour. 

A slightly unusual and elegant winter salad recipe from a 1920s English cookbook instructs arranging cut up beetroot and celery in small pieces in alternate layers, sprinkling with a teaspoon of finely chopped onion and another of parsley and pouring over a sauce made with 1 tablespoon of cream for every teaspoon of tarragon vinegar, a little sugar and a pinch of cayenne. 

Polish beetroot.

With horseradish.

Otherwise freshly grated horseradish can also be added directly into salad or stirred into soured cream, a typical accompaniment to boiled beetroot in Poland. In Greece the mezze is served with a garlic sauce instead, or a combination of garlic and Greek yoghurt, and in this case also topped with fresh dill. 

Greek beetroot.

With garlic sauce.

Delicious also as a hearty soup, most famously the Russian borscht, beetroot also makes a fantastic cold summer soup. In Lithuania grated cooked beetroot is combined with diced cucumber, chopped boil eggs, dill and chives, together with a dairy base such as kefir or sour cream, thinned with some water. (Stock can also be used for extra flavour). The mixture is chilled and served with cold diced boiled potatoes and more dill.  

 Beetroot is also delicious paired with pork as well as liver as a side dish, and some of those famous beetroot salads - especially the creamier ones – can sometime include ham instead of fish: try beetroot, carrots, tinned peas, ham and mayonnaise: a properly old-fashioned, cold European winter salad. 

Beetroot goes well with celery, potato, herring, orange, apple, walnuts, parsley, tarragon, dill, mustard, horseradish, honey, pork, liver, anchovy, caper, cumin, goat’s cheese, onion, watercress, garlic.

An Old-fashioned Italian Beetroot Salad

Ingredients.

Long grain rice, 300g

Capers, 16, rinsed

Emmenthal cheese, 100g, diced

Eggs, 3, hard-boiled

Olive oil, 6 tablespoons

White wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons

Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon

Beetroot, 1, cooked and peeled and diced

Parsley sprig, 1, finely chopped

Salt and pepper

Instructions.

1.      Cook the rice in plenty of salted boiling water for about 18 minutes until tender.

2.     Drain, rinse under cold running water and drain again.

3.     Tip into a salad bowl and add the cheese and capers

4.    Shell and chop two of the eggs and add to the rice.

5.     Whisk together the oil, vinegar and mustard in a jug, season with salt and pepper and pour over the salad.

6.     Toss well and sprinkle the beetroot and parsley on top. 

7.     Shell and slice the remaining egg and arrange over the salad.

This is good with lots of vinegar and even a bit of lemon. If you have capers in vinegar use some of this juice as well.