SC - Looking for Grappa info and recipe

[Michael F. Gunter]

In a message dated 10/17/99 9:12:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
stefan at texas.net writes:

<< Is there any particular reason you think this is to be done with beet roots
 instead of beet leaves? This sounds very much like some of the tarts I think
 I've seen that were done with various herbs.
  >>

Actually, there are a couple of reasons I think this is done with the root, 
not the greenery.  It's really late period, for one.  If it was from an 
earlier period, say 15th, as opposed to 16th century, then it would fit with 
the greenery tart theory.  But by Elizabethan times, folks were using the 
root as well.  Another reason comes from Gerard.  Gerard's Herbal, admittedly 
published in 1597, but obviously a work which did not spring full-blown from 
John Gerard's forehead in that year, mentions the root part of the red beet 
as being both good and wholesome, and left it up to "cunning" cooks to devise 
"many and divers dishes".  He states the "red and beautifull root (which is 
preferred before the leaves, as well in beautie as in goodnesses).  The Roman 
beet is different from the white & green beets previously grown as potherbs.  
Having made up some of these, the visual effect is actually quite stunning.  
It makes a pretty tart.  Fresh beets are a winter crop here in Florida, so 
I'll grab some fresh ones later in the season and try it again.  The dish is 
actually a bit on the sweet side, and the bitter back-bite of the canned 
beets was more than I liked.  Others may find the startling change of taste 
from the front of the mouth to the back very piquant and pleasing, but I 
didn't.  It's probably just my own taste biases which made this less than 
appealing as a feast food for me, but it is quite in keeping with Elizabethan 
tastes for opposing tastes in the same dish.

Walk in peace,
Wolfmother
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