Beetroot features in many Scandinavian cookbooks, often pickled or as a way to add colour and flavour to gravadlax. And, while it is a popular vegetable, it is perhaps not quite as ubiquitous as these books would have us believe. This isn’t to say that it doesn’t make an appearance from time to time on our tables, but more often than not they are served with little ceremony, enjoyed for their sweet, earthy flavour by simply roasting or serving boiled with a little fresh cheese or butter.
A particular, traditional favourite is cooked beetroot, chopped into cubes with apple and served in a salad with plenty of mayonnaise as a creamy, almost fluorescent pink sandwich topper or side dish. Here are some other ideas for making the most of this misaligned root. All of these recipes use fresh beetroot – not the brined or cooked versions, which while convenient, are a bit too astringent for my taste.
“Trampa inte rödbetor i mossen” [“Don’t trample beetroot into the bog”, i.e. don’t sweat the small stuff!] Swedish saying