Beets are great if you know how to use them. My recent beet-related win was using them in home-made kimchi, as part of the paste. They provided a hint of sweetness, and I finally nailed the right color.
Garden tomatoes are a revelation every year - like candy! We also grow beets every year — but between you and me, taste the same as the ones I get at the grocery store. Still great, still delicious, and we still grow 'em because it's great to be reminded how awesome beets are when they pop out of the ground in our garden. Also, we make sure to remind everyone in the house — we're eating beets — remember that the next time you take a sh*t!
I’m glad you mentioned this, Daejin, because my observation between home grown and store bought beets is the same. I would venture that if you roast them you might find a textural difference, but that’s still a big assumption.
Also not a beet fan, though I have tried to like them. I think the canned, ruby-red, too-sweet mushy variety in salads ruined them for me. More recently I roasted some golden ones with oil and salt alongside some potatoes and onions and got a glimmer of a notion of how I might come to like them better. Still open. Thanks for spotlighting them.
I also really enjoyed learning more about the history of borscht in your Kyiv Independent piece. I didn’t know its Yiddish pedigree. I doubt it’ll make me any fonder of borscht or beets, but who knows?
Beets are great if you know how to use them. My recent beet-related win was using them in home-made kimchi, as part of the paste. They provided a hint of sweetness, and I finally nailed the right color.
Oh wow! That’s a great idea. Send me a picture if you have one.
Couldn't figure out how to add pictures to comments, so I posted a Note: https://substack.com/profile/25804209-konstantin-asimonov/note/c-39985125
3) C.
Despite being a fan of the newsletter, beets are one of very few foods that I cannot stand :)
Well thanks for hanging in there Ben because I’m always surprised to find out how polarizing they are for people!
Garden tomatoes are a revelation every year - like candy! We also grow beets every year — but between you and me, taste the same as the ones I get at the grocery store. Still great, still delicious, and we still grow 'em because it's great to be reminded how awesome beets are when they pop out of the ground in our garden. Also, we make sure to remind everyone in the house — we're eating beets — remember that the next time you take a sh*t!
I’m glad you mentioned this, Daejin, because my observation between home grown and store bought beets is the same. I would venture that if you roast them you might find a textural difference, but that’s still a big assumption.
Also not a beet fan, though I have tried to like them. I think the canned, ruby-red, too-sweet mushy variety in salads ruined them for me. More recently I roasted some golden ones with oil and salt alongside some potatoes and onions and got a glimmer of a notion of how I might come to like them better. Still open. Thanks for spotlighting them.
I also really enjoyed learning more about the history of borscht in your Kyiv Independent piece. I didn’t know its Yiddish pedigree. I doubt it’ll make me any fonder of borscht or beets, but who knows?
Thanks, Ruth. Glad you found it interesting. If you like reading about beets more than eating them, there is a great article in Tablet about how beets become intwined in Jewish cooking: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/food/articles/beet-goes-on-jewish-cuisine
Really fascinating piece. Thanks, Mia! I’m going to keep experimenting with beets. I feel like I should give them another chance.
If you like walnuts and oranges, that’s a good entry level trip to work with. Let me know how it goes!