SC - Beets redux...
LrdRas at aol.com
LrdRas at aol.com
Sun Oct 24 22:34:00 PDT 1999
In a message dated 10/24/99 11:49:39 PM Eastern Daylight Time, lcm at efn.org
writes:
<< Any ideas what
kind of beet these were? >>
These were one of many cultivars available to the modern gardener. Other beet
cultivars include red and yellow striped, concentric red and white bands when
slice crosswise, white, and golden.
Since this beet discussion has come up, I have been doing a little reading
and have revised my opinion about whether beetroots were used in the MA's. I
now think they were used BUT were still not all that commonly. Platina does
mention beets as a root in the third chapter of De Honesta but the only
recipe he has using beets is in the sixth chapter where it is included as am
ingredient in 'Green Sauce.' That example clearly indicates the leaves and/or
stems are meant by the term 'beta' since the use or the red beetroot would
result in a brown sauce and not a green sauce.
Other than the isolated case of the possible use of the root in the late
period recipe for the tarts posted earlier this week, I found no tart recipes
including beets as an ingredient that would suggest an interpretation of
their use in tarts in a form other than greens.
There are several isolated recipes which might be interpreted as the root but
they were rare and in some cases very ambiguous. A phone call to a
horticuluralist that I know is interested in historical horticulture offered
the intriguing opinion that medieval beets were rounded at the top and then
tapered to a point resembling an over sized squat carrot rather than the
ball-like form we normally associate a beet with in the current middle ages.
He has promised to try to find me the source of this info if he can.
If he is accurate in his interpretation and you have garden space or access
to a good green grocer, the variety Cylindra would be a good modern
substitute for beetroots in period recipe when their use clearly indicated,
IMO.
Ras
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