Introduction:
As a Brit arriving in Australia I was fascinated by the penchant of this antipodean nation for a food that can be found everywhere and in everything ‘Aussie’. One may be thinking of the imperious Vegemite (I’m a ‘Marmiter’, of course) or even the notion of throwing a shrimp on the barbie – which is as ridiculous as a Brit roasting a shrimp for Sunday lunch – you will find steak and snags (sausages) on any barbie here. No, Aussies have a fascination with beetroot, and given the title of this piece I am sure that you were not hanging by a thread in expectation of what the food was.
I remember visiting a certain burger joint in my early days here and seeing advertised an Aussie version of a burger. In high expectation of some added seafood or a Kangaroo patty I was somewhat disappointed to find out that this version was ‘Aussie’ due to a slice of beetroot. I think beetroot is magnificent, and I am sure that I have eaten more pickled slices and spheres of this vegetable as a kid in England than probably anyone, but I was a little perturbed that I had travelled ten thousand miles to be greeted by beetroot being Aussie. And it’s not as if there is a history of magical concoctions and gastronomic delights, or any new awakenings to the power of beetroot; it’s pretty much been the tinned variety which has been a staple here for the last 50 years or so. According to the main processor of beetroot in Australia the only plausible reason for the popularity of this ‘tinned’ vegetable is that the English migrants brought over a love of beets and pickling recipes with them.
Now, in high-end gastronomic restaurants we are seeing a multitude of coloured baby beetroots, usually pickled or candied, that shows off the real potential of this root vegetable. The real success behind beetroot’s prowess, however, is the combination of earthiness and sweetness which is wonderfully offset by acidity (hence the pickling obsession) and saltiness, or both.
So as a testament to Australia, where I still reside, and Yorkshire, my home, I have created this brilliant flavour combination in a risotto base. The beetroot is juiced and reduced to produce an intense sweetness and a deliciously crimson-like aesthetic. It is then offset by Wensleydale cheese; a white crumbly cheese from Yorkshire that has a calm but noteworthy sourness to it, a mild saltiness and underlying creaminess. Together with the earthiness and sweet beet sugars we have ingredients that will form a lifelong relationship.
