HAVE GERMAN WILL TRAVEL Speisen

WAS ESSEN DIE DEUTSCHEN? (Gemuse) What do the German eat? (vegetables)

vegetable: das GemOse, die GemOse kind of, variety: die Sorte, die Sorten type, kind, sort: die Art, die Arten

eets have come a long way from their humble Emopean delicatessens and even sometimes sold as bar roots. Formerly considered fodder for peasants snacks in pubs.) And beets are an important ingredient in B and farm animals, beets are now one of the latest the North German one-dish meal, Labskaus- originally food fads in the United States, where the colorfu l veggies a sailor's dish, but now found on many menus in that are the darling of health gurus and modern che fs. region. Cooked potatoes, beets, onions, corned and Beets have long been beloved in Central Europe, so metimes herring are all chopped together into a hash, d1ough, where iliey are made into cold salads, colorful li ghtly fried in oil or melted , topped with a fried egg soups, hot side dishes and pretty pickles. The most com­ (sunny side up), garnished with pickled gherkins, Roll­ mon kind are red beets, known as Rote Bete (Rote Beete) mops (pickled herring), and sometimes pickled beets on or Roteri.iben in German. But beets come in other colors, the side. Trust me: iliis smprising combination of ingre­ too: yellow ( or golden), white and even red-and-white dients is much tastier th,m it soun ds. candy-striped (a special variety from Italy). But beets have another important use in . In Bod1 the roots and the leafy greens are edible. T he roots the mid-l 700s, two German chemists figured out how can be baked , boiled or pickled; sliced, shredded, pureed to refine ·white sugar from a variety of beet. One of them or cubed. Baking beet roots, whole and unpeeled, is the later established d1c first beet-sugar factory in Silesia in best way to concentrate their deep , rich .flavor. Served 1801, and d1e industry continued to grow throughout hot or cold, cooked beet roots pair well wid1 butter, the 19d1 century. Industrialists who grew rich from d1e sour cream, and mayonnaise, as well as fl avorin gs such production ofRi.ibe.nzucker (beet sugar) built opulent vil­ as onions, ho rseradish, apples, prunes, bacon, vinegar, las tl1at soon became known among d1e common folk as caraway seeds, chives and dill. And the green leaves, with "sugar palaces." And consumers in some parts of Germa­ their dark red veins, can be cooked and used the same ny developed a taste for beet-sugar syrup, a thick, sweet, way as spinach. dark syrup that is a by-product of beet-sugar production. Red beets lend their bright hue to a number of Central So listen tO your mod1er, and "eat your beets." Even if European dishes. Shredded beet roots arc combined with you're one of those people who doesn't like beets, give cream y rice in pretty pink risottos. Peeled hard-boiled them a second chance. I'll bet tlrnt the fo llowing reci­ eggs are submerged in beet juice until they absorb ilie pes will change your mind-and you'll discover d1at beets color. (You'll often find d1ese for sale in big jars at Eastern can't be beat.