History of Beetroot
Early Beetroot
Beetroot evolved from wild seabeet, which is a native of coastlines from India to Britain and is the ancestor of all cultivated forms of beet.
Sea beet was first domesticated in the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East – although it was only the leaves that were eaten at that time. The root was carrot-shaped and the Romans were, at first, mainly interested in it as a medicine. The first recipes for preparing the roots appeared in the third century AD and were mainly for curative broth used to treat fevers and other ailments.
Apicus, the renowned Roman gourmet, included recipes for broths and adventurous culinary dishes in his book ‘The Art of Cooking’.
The rounded root shape that we’re familiar with today wasn’t developed until the sixteenth century and became widely popular in Central and Eastern Europe a couple of hundred years later. Many of the classic beetroot dishes originated in this region, including the most famous beetroot soup, known as borsch.
Beetroot today
After World War II pickled beetroot in jars was the most widely available form, but the vinegars could be strong and harsh - enough to put many people off beetroot for life! More recently smaller, more tender ‘baby’ summer-grown beetroots have been developed and in recent years Shropshire’s have introduced a range of milder vinegars in which we dip the freshly cooked vegetable - effectively to preserve its freshness for just a few days, without overpowering the subtle beetroot flavour. This is the way the product has been prepared in kitchens and enjoyed for generations.
If you’re interested in knowing more about the history of beetroot, you may like to visit the website of Stephen Nottingham.