“Beet ever so onion there snow peas legume.” Margaret Thornley
If that don’t beet all! The beet has been an important food source since antiquity, adorning Egyptian temple walls circa 2000 B.C. Growing wild throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, it was generally more appreciated for what grew above the ground than below, giving us various chards and spinaches. Hippocrates used the leaves for binding wounds and its medicinal uses begat food recipes in Apicius, the fourth century book of Roman cookery. The root of the beet began to come into esteem in the 16th century as the “Roman” beet was developed, though the Britons knew only the red and long red until 1800. Napoleon was the champion of the beet: the English blockades of France successfully kept sugar off of French palates until 1811 when the Emperor was presented with two loaves of bread made with beet sugar; by the end of the Napoleonic Wars, nearly 300 mills were churning out beet sugar - beet Sugar accounts for nearly 30% of the world’s sugar and an astounding 90% of European sugar. Among the most popular varieties of beets are the red, gold and candy-striped varieties, both mature and “baby” beets adorn tables. Delicious hot or cold they are high in fiber, folic acid and antioxidants. So, if you can’t beet ‘em, join ‘em.
The beet was Rasputin's favorite vegetable. You could see it in his eyes. Tom Robbins
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Saturday, October 03, 2009
This Spud's for You!
"I have made a lot of mistakes falling in love, and regretted most of them, but never the potatoes that went with them."Nora Ephron, Heartburn
This Spud's for You! Isn’t it interesting that some of our favorite foods can kill us if we're not careful with them? The potato is one of those vegetables that come to us from the nightshade family that gives us the eggplant, the tomato. The leaves are poisonous and if left too long in the light, the skin greens and produces solanine, which can be harmful to some people.
Fortunately for us, people who couldn’t really pick and choose what they would eat found that animals native to the Peruvian Andes found the tubers of these plants were edible and followed them to the source over 7000 years ago. Spanish Conquistadors brought them to the Old World in the 16th century; initially, the patata was condemned, but it began to achieve some popularity because its vitals grew underground and were less likely to be reaped by foragers in times of war or pestilence.
Speaking of warriors, legend has it that Sir Walter Raleigh did much to popularize the tater everywhere he went: England, Ireland, and Roanoke. By the time he’d lost his head over his controversial politics, much of Europe had fallen head over heels for the pomme de terre garnering much of the acreage formerly afforded to wheat.
Potatoes are now hitting the market in many colors - white, brown, yellow, pink, red and purple, and shapes – from petite fingerling to new round to football-sized russets. Enjoy them any way you like: boiled, mashed, baked, in salads, roasted or fried!
"It’s easy to halve the potato where there is love." Irish Proverb
This Spud's for You! Isn’t it interesting that some of our favorite foods can kill us if we're not careful with them? The potato is one of those vegetables that come to us from the nightshade family that gives us the eggplant, the tomato. The leaves are poisonous and if left too long in the light, the skin greens and produces solanine, which can be harmful to some people.
Fortunately for us, people who couldn’t really pick and choose what they would eat found that animals native to the Peruvian Andes found the tubers of these plants were edible and followed them to the source over 7000 years ago. Spanish Conquistadors brought them to the Old World in the 16th century; initially, the patata was condemned, but it began to achieve some popularity because its vitals grew underground and were less likely to be reaped by foragers in times of war or pestilence.
Speaking of warriors, legend has it that Sir Walter Raleigh did much to popularize the tater everywhere he went: England, Ireland, and Roanoke. By the time he’d lost his head over his controversial politics, much of Europe had fallen head over heels for the pomme de terre garnering much of the acreage formerly afforded to wheat.
Potatoes are now hitting the market in many colors - white, brown, yellow, pink, red and purple, and shapes – from petite fingerling to new round to football-sized russets. Enjoy them any way you like: boiled, mashed, baked, in salads, roasted or fried!
"It’s easy to halve the potato where there is love." Irish Proverb
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