A beet-er aftertaste

Tonight I roasted* the first harvest of my Yellow Intermediate Mangel beetroot (we'll call it YIM for short) - an heirloom variety sourced from the Heritage Seed Library. The first five seconds of flavour were lovely - sweet and earthy, just how a beet should be. But then this bitter aftertaste kicked in and my tastebuds rebelled.

I am not sure if that's just the way YIM tastes or if it's something to do with the growing conditions? Too much or too little water?

Also - am I right in thinking that YIM isn't actually a beetroot** at all - a member of the beet family, yes, but odn't mangel (aka mangelwurzel) usually better known as livestock feed? Unfortunately my regular beets failed to germinate so now I am left with these turkeys. If only the pigs were still being housed next door and they'd have a rare heritage treat on their trotters.

*If you haven't tried it before, do roast some beetroot, homegrown or otherwise. It's dead easy - just top and tail lightly, scrub the skin but don't remove it, and wrap in some tinfoil with olive oil and pepper. They take about half an hour in the oven and you know when they're ready because the skin will skip off easily.

**Yes, the title of this post is a terrible, terrible pun, but I couldn't resist it ...

Comments

[Podchef]

I would imagine your YIM is some form of fodder beet. You might try eating some raw, or boiled. Roasting tends to concentrate flavors and could increase the bitter notes. It could also be due to growing conditions. Not enough potash?

Grow some next year, but make arrangements beforehand with the swineherd next door. Enter into a Mangles for Meat exchange should the prove to be the same flavor duds again.

[Patrick]

I had pretty much the same reaction the first time I tried mangel beets. I think they are much better when eaten small, but still not very nice.

They are actually very endangered because people aren't growing them anymore.

If you are trying to raise animals on a small scale, and you want to grow the food for the animals yourself, mangel beets are actually one of the best ways to do that. The problem is nowadays most people who are just raising a few animals prefer to just buy some cheap maize or other grain, rather than grow it themselves.

I was driving through Estonia a few years ago, and found it a little amusing (and interesting) that most homes in rural areas had a vegetable garden with at least a few yellow or red mangel beets. I guess in a few years they won't even be grown there anymore.

Sugar beets are the only mangel beet still widely grown.

[Soilman]

I have bad news: my mother feeds mangels to her sheep during winter. I tried one once, out of curiosity, and quickly realised why they're fed to livestock. Even in Britain, mangels aren't fit for human consumption.
Wish Brits took the same view about swedes, which I find utterly revolting. I know a very bourgeois French lady who, on discovering that her Parisian daughter was eating swedes in the UK, threatened to forcibly return her to the UK. "We fed swedes to cattle during the war. What are they trying to do – fatten you for slaughter?"

[Stonehead]

We grow mangels (Yellow Eckendorf) mainly for pig feed and brewing - they make quite a good ale. We also eat some of the smaller ones and find the eating quality is extremely dependent on the growing conditions - the soil has to be very well dug and well composted, while they need regular watering to ensure they're juicy. (We rely on rainfall to water them so this year's crop was quite good as we had a wet summer.)

The leaves can be eaten lightly steamed or braised (like spinach and other beet leaves) while the roots are good mashed, diced or used instead of sweet potatoes. We didn't like them roasted, either!

[AliIrshad]

beetroot with olive oil is very usefull for the skin. As http://www.antivitiligo.com/vitiligo/ say Mangel beetroot is very rich of nuetrant and perhaps good for immune system of the body. It mean it is supportive for autoimmune diseases like vitiligo and lupus etc.