I used to fall into this category, and I really don’t even remember why I did. I don’t even remember eating the darn things as a child, because Mom never cooked them. It just seems like such a cliché, this business of hating beets. Everyone, especially kids, hates beets, right?
Then I went to Russia, Land of Root Vegetables that Store Well, during a period of severe food shortages. One ate whatever was put in front of one, and one liked it, or else one was very hungry. (Sometimes one was very hungry anyway, and sometimes one got food poisoning, but I digress.) I ate lots and lots and lots of beets, and soon discovered that I actually liked them. Of course, these were not nasty, ancient, canned, mushy beets; these were beets as God meant them to be prepared. Pickled beets and borsch were two favorites, as were various beet salads.
At first I thought I just liked them because they were less likely to make me violently ill than badly stored, half-rotten meat, and because they actually had some nutritional content. But once I returned to the U.S. and used my lovely, charming, salt-of-the-earth Ukrainian roommate Irina’s borsch and other beet recipes, I realized that I still like them. (For those of you who are skeptical about borsch, I must note that real, honest, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink Ukrainian borsch bears no resemblance whatsoever to that insipid purplish-red liquid bottled by Manischewitz. It is a one-bowl, rib-sticking peasant meal. In winter, I get regular cravings for it. Recipe, such as it is, posted on request.)
So do you hate beets? If so, why? Is this hatred based on actual experience, or just some theoretical beet idea? And does it apply to canned beets, fresh beets, or both? Please share your thoughts.