[Sca-cooks] More on Beets and Beet Roots

[Terry Decker]

>Master Cariadoc comments about some of the period quotes on beets:
>>>>>
>>There are white, black, and red varieties. The red ones are much
>>appreciated when thinly sliced in salad, being first boiled in water or
>>cooked under hot embers, thinly sliced, and dressed with oil, vinegar,
>>and salt. The sweet white ones are the best.
>
>I think this could be a reference to either the leaves or the root,
>although specifying the red ones, which other sources suggest have a
>more edible root, at least suggests the latter.

I'm more of the opinion that they are referring to  the beet root.  You
might tear or chop beet leaf, but I doubt you "thinly slice" it.  Swiss
chard (Beta vulgaris cicla) is specifically grown for the leaf and has very
little root.

Interestingly Columella refers to black and white beets, but makes no
mention of red.  Modern taxonomy tends to B. vulgaris cicla for the chards,
B. vulgaris rubra for the red roots and B. vulgaris vulgaris for the white
or yellow roots.  I haven't encountered black beets in the modern
literature, but I may have missed them.  Or, it is possible, Columella was
referring to a dark red as black or to another plant entirely.  I haven't
read Columella closely, so I may be in error.

><<<<
>Why do you say this could suggest the leaves?
>I thought all the leaves would be green, but here they talk about the red
ones being much appreciated when slice in a salad. And earlier about white,
black and red varieties. I admit they may be using the color of the roots to
indicate which type of beet, while still using only the leaves, but how do
you cook leaves under hot embers? On the otherhand, that is a pretty
straight forward thing to do with roots.
>
>Would/do the leaves of the various leaves vary in sweetness? Or taste at
all? Why specify sweet white ones, if you aren't eating the root? How would
anyone know they were sweet if they weren't eating the root?
>
>Stefan

Beet leaves tend to be a mixture of red and green, commonly green leaf
sometimes with red edging and red stalk.  In some cases the leaf takes on a
reddish tint.

Beet leaves are usually eaten raw, boiled or steamed.  They are not cooked
under embers, a method more suitable for roots or bulbs.

Sugar beets are derived from white varietals, which suggest that the white
beets are higher in sugar content.  This may also apply to the leaves if the
sap contains a higher concentration of sugars.

Bear