Fresh (uncooked) beetroot

[Mr-H]

I went to Morrisons today and whilst there decided to look at buying some beetroot. I decided not to because the leafs had been cut right down to the vegetable. I was tols that if you are cooking beetroot cut the leaves to leave about 1 inch of stalk otherwise they will bleed during the cooking process, and a lot of flavour will be lost. Is this true or would the Morrisons one be ok please?

[Mr-H]

I believe the Morrisons ons have basically been top'n'tailed. They did not have the long tail root. Anyway I decided to leave them alone. Thanks Trim.....

[Buenchico]

I hate beetroot, so I'm certainly no expert but the BBC website makes no reference to leaving any amount of stalk on:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/beetroot#preparation

H2G2 (which is usually reliable) refers to 'snipping off the stalk' but states that you should not 'top and tail like carrots':
http://h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/A11454491

As I see it (and from having watched others cooking the revolting stuff) you'll only lose flavour if the actual top of the beetroot is missing.

Chris

[Maydup]

Do you have a market or a greengrocer nearby Mr H? Try there if you can and leave the Morrison ones alone. Trim's right, they're best cooked before they've been topped and tailed and a greengrocer would know that.

Whatever you do, find some as they're delicious and so lovely and fresh at this time of the year. Peel and grate a raw one and have it in a cheese sandwich when you get home as a reward for finding them!

[rowanwitch]

sainsburys leave them with a decent amount of top growth and their tails don't forget they are nice raw (grated with apple and carrot is one of my fave salads) and no goodness is lost

[Mr-H]

I grew some this year, and my wife used the last of them to make a superb beetroot and chocolate cake. Absolutely delicious!! That's why I am looking for fresh ones - so she can make another cake (or two!).