Why do so many Americans hate beets?

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.

Gee, what made you think of this? :wink:

Canned red nasty beets in nasty red juice are the only beets I’ve experienced. Nuff said.

I saw the title and didn’t even have to look at the originator.

Canned and fresh for me. And yuck on both. I hate talking to you about food, Eva, because I feel like a ten year old turning up his nose at broccoli. I’m not that picky or infantile, I swear!

Gundy, no criticism meant, of course. You know that, right? I’m just trying to share the Joy of Beets! (You don’t turn up your nose at broccoli, do you?)

Maybe I’m just preaching beets with the zeal of a recently converted fundie. Just humor me, OK?

There’s always pickled beets in my fridge door and I’m crazy about all the borsch I’ve had, even if it probably wasn’t as good as what you’ve described.

This is probably a bit TMI, but once you’ve vomited after eating beets, you really don’t want to eat them again. Throwing up stuff that looks like blood is disturbing.

I’ve had this happen twice, once as a little kid, and once when a friend of mine decided that vodka, grape Kool-Aid, and beet juice would make a good mixed drink. (It doesn’t.) Actually, I’m not really sure what beets taste like without the vodka and Kool-Aid, but I do know that I am not particularly inclined to find out.

i love all vegetables (including sea vegetables) so i give beets the big thumbs up!!
There is this Russian deli in the market that I frequent. They make a wonderful borsch with lovely fresh herbs sprinkled on top…mmmmm delish!

Reminds me of a standup comedian I once heard imitating a drunk: “BEETS! I WANT BEETS!!”

I have had my FIL’s fresh-from-the-ground beets, washed and sliced. Tasted like dirt. Every time I try them, they taste like dirt or pickled dirt.

Now, turnips, on the other hand … mmmmmmmmmm!

Great, let see it! Um, please?

I spent some time in New Zealand and a local I was was having lunch with asked why I pointedly ordered my sandwich without beets. I told him that the average American would sooner eat his or her own thumb before eating a beet. Of course, my only experience with beets was as part of a grade school cafeteria meal. Probably not the best introduction. I guess it’s only fair to give them another shot.

I love beets. Roasted, boiled, canned, pickled, you name it. In soups, in salads, in casseroles, all by themselves.

Of course, when I was a kid I hated beets. Why? Because my mom served them smothered in mayonnaise or Miracle Whip. ::shudder::

The first time I had a naked beet, around age 20, it was a revelation!

I still hate the way they stain everything, though.

Recipe will be posted shortly, as soon as I rescue my third Canadian of the day. I swear!

Canadian Club, it is hoped.
What’s a baby harp seal’s favorite drink?

Canadian Club on the rocks!

I lived in Poland for 2 years. Had lots of folks tell me the only reason I said I don’t like beets is because I’d never tasted their (fill in the blank Polish beet recipe).

I gamely tasted them all, by some fabulous Polish cooks.

I still hate beets.

Yuck! I don’t do whisky, with the exception of a glug of bourbon in Derby pie. But that’s a whole other recipe. Bourbon is also a key ingredient in my Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole. Hmmm, maybe I should post those, too. Trouble is, ingredients and quantities tend to vary depending on my mood and the contents of my pantry. (For the sweet potatoes, anyway, not the pie. Never mess with Derby pie.)

** I LOVE BEETS**

I ate them all the time while I was in russia… My favorite Veggie!

Zenster I have a nice pile of Russian recipes I can post them if you ask my friend :slight_smile:

Fretful Porpentine, just reading your post is making me want to puke. I think you should start a thread called “Unlikely Drink Concoctions (Mixed Drinks That Make You Hurl).”

17 replies and nobody has said it yet…

Beats (beets) me !

:slight_smile:

I can remember vividly several occasions, eating at the school cafeteria or a family party, taking a big bite of what I thought was cranberry jelly (a childhood favorite), only to discover that it was the dreaded canned beets. Ack.

I think I’m permanently scarred on the sliced beet issue, but I’d be willing to try a good, authentic borscht. Anything that calls for sour cream can’t be that bad.

Wow, I never thought I’d see so many beet lovers in my thread, and so many willing potential converts! How could I pass up an opportunity like this? So here goes…I will also cross-post in Zenster’s thread.

Irina Marchenko’s Fabulous Everything-but-the-Kitchen-Sink Ukrainian Borsch

(NOTE: Like all good East European home cooking, but especially like all late Soviet-era perestroika cooking, specific ingredients and proportions are highly approximate, as they frequently depend on what is available. The first time Irina set out to show me this recipe, she and I spent all goddamned day running all over Leningrad and standing in zillions of lines, only to discover that there was nary a can of tomato sauce, or indeed any tomato product at all, to be found anywhere in northern Russia unless one had the foresight to grow and can one’s own tomatoes the previous summer at one’s dacha garden plot. Finally, we gave up, and with her sad puppy-dog eyes she convinced me to go buy some at the hard currency store.)

Anyway:

4 qts. water
2-3 lbs. meat (preferably beef, ideally a couple of nice meaty shank bones, but if all you have is pork, then by all means use it)
2-3 medium cooked beets, diced (I usually bake them in the oven in tinfoil first while the beef is simmering, then peel and dice them, adding them almost at the end since they’re already cooked)
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2-3 potatoes, peeled
2 onions, diced
3 whole peeled cloves garlic, or more, to taste
2 bay leaves
½ small head shredded cabbage
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
1 bunch finely chopped fresh dill
Salt, freshly ground black pepper, and vinegar to taste

Simmer meat in water until almost tender with bay leaf. Add garlic onions, carrots, and potatoes. Simmer until almost tender, then add tomato sauce, beets, cabbage, and black pepper. Just before serving, add salt, dill, and adjust level of vinegar to achieve pleasant sweet/sour balance. Serve with a large blob of sour cream in the middle of each bowl (none of this nonfat garbage! My mom always tries to cut calories by using yogurt instead of sour ream, but this is just wrong.), and additional chopped dill as garnish, if desired.

Variations: some people also like their borsch with a few dried mushrooms cooked in it, or even kidney beans. I have no opinion on the kidney beans, but mushrooms are indeed an authentically Ukrainian variation. Never try to separate a Slav from his mushrooms! Also, some people like to use sour salt (powdered citric acid) instead of vinegar, but this is modern cheating.