I think there may be something genetic, kind of like how some people experience cilantro as tasting like soap, that causes some people to experience beets as tasting like dirt.
I am fortunate to belong in neither category and love a good batch of borscht. Or a beet and goat cheese and arugula salad.
Not like “whole” dirt but a certain extract of dirt.
This. It’s very primal and I love that quality.
You know what else tastes like dirt? Truffles. And I’m delighted my forests have plenty of the little nuggets for me to unearth each year!
No one likes beets. They are evil. Eeeeevilllll!
Same here. When I express my dislike, people say, “oh, that’s because you’ve only ever had canned beets – fresh beets roasted in the oven will change your mind!”
I’ve had roasted beets, and they didn’t change my mind at all. Beets just taste … weird. Like they have a chemical in them that isn’t actually meant to be consumed.
ETA: The one exception is that I do like pickled beet eggs. But only the eggs. The beets get thrown out after they impart their lovely color to the eggs; luckily the eggs don’t end up tasting like beets.
We have a family recipe: Pickled beets, mixed with grated horseradish. Sounds strange, but it’s actually really good as a side dish.
Pretty normal combo to me, but I grew up with Ćwikła, a Polish/Jewish horseradish-and-beet condiment, also known as red chrain.
I’ve always hated beets since I was a kid; their taste make me nauseous.
I like The Beets…
Mmmm-mmmmmmm beets!
I love them. In borscht or in rassols salad. Or just boiled and bathed in lemon juice and drawn butter, like crab legs.
How do the “tastes like dirt” people know what dirt tastes like?
Either: 1) They’ve gotten dirt in their mouth (I certainly have) so know what soil tastes like or 2) Since taste is mostly smell, anyway, you can get a good idea of what dirt tastes like simply by knowing its smell (and I’ve never understood the “oh, it tastes better than it smells” people for that reason. I eat everything pretty much, and I can’t think of a food where I really think it tastes much different than it smells.)
They’re fine. When I was a kid my older brother and sister both hated the pickled beets my parents would put on the table every now and then, and I’m certain I liked it just because they didn’t. As an adult, I still like them. Put some beets in the smoker and brought them to Thanksgiving a couple of weeks ago, in fact.
How do you NOT know what dirt tastes like? What kind of alien didn’t eat dirt when they were a toddler and retain the sense-memory for their entire life?
No, not a fan.
No toddler pica memories. I know what various soils smell like, but there is a difference between clay soils, soils with decaying organic matter (humus), etc.
Yeah, maybe I would describe a taste as “earthy”.
Full grown Beets? Not really
But ‘juvenile’ beets with their respective greens. Delicious
Thank you! I don’t think beet greens get enough love.
That’s my thought. Between football, fights,even soccer and baseball I got a good load of dirt and grass in my mouth at least a couple dozen rimes. I’m surprised anybody could through childhood without a mouthful at least once.
The only way my husband will eat beets is if they are prepared like potato chips.
I like a lot of beet recipes, but I’m not fond of Havard Beets. I do like pickled beets and really miss having the brightly colored hard-boiled egg as accompaniment.
The grocery store here starting selling cottage cheese with beets and horseradish which I found surprising tasty. Supposedly it’s based on a Nordic recipe. Haven’t tried it myself, and I would probably skip the dill because it’s not one of my favorites, but some day I will.