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Culinary Dictionary
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| Category: Vegetables and fungi |
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Beet | ||
 Beets are members of the Goosefoot family. The red or garden beet (Beta vulgaris), a cool-season biennial of Mediterranean origin belonging to the plant order Caryophyllales (Centrospermales). This beet is grown primarily for its fleshy root, but also for its leaves, both of which are cooked fresh or canned as a vegetable.Beets are most extensively grown in temperate to cool regions or during the cooler seasons. The growing season varies from 8 to 10 weeks for garden beets in favorable climates to 30 weeks for some mangel-wurzels. Origin: Beets, botanically-known as Beta vulgaris, are native to the Mediterranean. Natives of the temperate parts of Eurasia, they are now in general cultivation, chiefly for their large succulent roots, which are used as food and fodder and as a source of sugar. History: The beet root was generally used medicinally and did not become a popular food until French chefs recognized their potential in the 1800's. Beet remains have been excavated in the Third dynasty Saqqara pyramid at Thebes, Egypt, and four charred beet fruits were found in the Neolithic site of Aartswoud in the Netherlands, it is difficult to determine whether these are domesticated or wild forms of B. vulgaris. However Zohary and Hopf note that beet is "linguistically well identified." They state the earliest written mention of the beet comes from 8th century BC Mesopotamia; the Greek Peripatetic Theophrastus later describes the beet as similar to the radish. "Roman and Jewish literary sources indicate that already in the 1st century BC domestic beet was represented in the Mediterranean basin by leafy forms and very probably also by beetroot cultivars. Nutrition Facts: Beet greens, a source of riboflavin, iron, and vitamins A and C. Small percentages of protein, fat, fiber, and ash are also present, and the greens are rich in vitamins A and B. It owes its food value chiefly to the 10 percent of carbohydrate it contains. Beet (Beta vulgaris roots) contains significant amounts of vitamin C, whilst the leaves are an excellent source of vitamin A. They are also high in folate, soluble and insoluble dietary fibre and antioxidants. It is among the sweetest of vegetables, containing more sugar even than carrots or sweet corn. The content of sugar in beetroot is no more than 10%, in the sugar beet it is typically 15 to 20%. |