Steady Beet
This root vegetable usually blends into the background of any grocery store greens department. Let’s zoom in a little (Ingredient Special on Cabbage Beet aka Rutabaga).
You know how I love botanical myths, and this unpretentious beet has an interesting one: It might be the result of a wild love affair between a kale and a turnip. It’s unclear who made the move. Was it the kale doing “Oh, I love those curves …” or the turnip who went all “fifteen shades of green” on the kale? We’ll never know. Although this might seem just like an amusing tale, it’s actually not that far off. Both kale and turnip are members of the Brassicaceae family. Like many more: other root vegetables and cabbages, radishes, salads, herbs, spices (mustard), and even the plant canola oil is made from. Big family. And I have also read gardening tips on planting different kinds of Brassicaceae with a warning not to plant them too close. Either because they hate growing next to each other. Or because they might …
Definitely not a myth, but a historic fact, is that this particular root saved millions of people. During the great famines related to the two world wars in the first half of the twentieth century, cabbage beet – or rutabaga, as you may know it by – was about the only food really available. As a kid, I heard stories by elder family members about how they hated the smell of cabbage beet when they were kids themselves, because it was cabbage beet for breakfast, cabbage beet for lunch, and cabbage beet for supper. Of course, those people did not eat the beet itself day in and day out. Besides the obvious stews and vegetable uses, you can make flour from it to bake cake and create coffee substitutes to drink with that cake. You can fry it like a steak, turn it into jam, and much more. Its leaves are even more nutritious than the roots and edible. The plant basically grows all year round and even tolerates mild frost. Plus, you can store the roots very well.
Nowadays, cabbage beets are back in the kitchens after a longer period when they were not regarded very highly. And the varieties you can buy today do not taste like the ones from a hundred years back. Which, way back then, were originally meant as horse and pig food, by the way. The roots taste milder and have a very unique aroma now. I love, how it brings out the true depth of any broth and offers very fascinating options for combination with other vegetables and fruits. That’s why I am always very glad, when I see the first coconut sized roots with that distinct color spectrum at the side.
Some people would describe cabbage beets as “plain”. I think they are beautiful, in and out. And they do have honest core values (quite nutritious). Plus an amazing history of serving as good food.
Time to take the spotlight!
Side Notes
- There is a recipe to accompany this Ingredient Special on Cabbage Beet coming up next week. I will be cooking it also on the day you can read the recipe. It smells wonderful.