By: Jerry Tenenberg
Founder of High Quality Organics
How much do you know about beets?
Contemporary varieties of beets such as red, golden, or mixed color, all come from the deep red variety that has long been used for its culinary and medicinal value, and in most recent history, it’s sugar content.
From the third millennium BC, in northern Europe to the Middle East, beets have been chronicled growing in the mythological Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Their leaves were eaten by the Greeks and their roots offered to the gods.
Red beetroots are dehydrated and milled into a powder. Beet powder with its sweet flavor characteristic, adds not only color but a sweet foundational flavor to sauces, dressings, vegetables, and other recipes. Add beetroot powder directly to recipes, such as simmering the powder first in water and mixing it into layer cakes and cupcakes to produce a silky red color.
In the 1500s scientists discovered the process of boiling the roots and producing sugar syrup. At that time, cane sugar was still the most efficient to produce and was purer in sweetness. It would be several years later before the useful variety of sugar beet and its efficient production would be developed enough for general use as a sweetener in Prussia in 1801.
When the British blocked transport of cane sugar during the Napoleonic wars, Napoleon himself dedicated tens of thousands of acres to the production of new varieties of sugar beets. This would be key in the development of the European sugar beet industry. Sugar production from beets would find its way to California and its first production in 1879.
We grow beets at home. They love a well-amended soil with aged compost. It is one of my favorite crops to show visitors at my home. Visually the rich texture of the brownish-red root against the color of the rich dark soil is very stimulating. When we wash them off and offer our guests to take them home, we invariably get a call in a day or two of how much they like them.
Production at home is enjoyable. I also really enjoy walking through the hundreds of acres that our farmers have under cultivation to be able to dehydrate and provide the high-quality powders and quantities needed for our customers.
Know that we focus on this nutritional, flavorful, beautiful vegetable in order to maximize color, consistency, and nutrients so that whatever you use our beetroot powder for, you will be satisfied each and every time!
Do you love beets?
We have beet powder in 3 sizes! 8oz, 1LB, and 2Lb resealable bags!
