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 ...
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