Choosing a beetroot

According to the shape and colour of beetroot roots

When thinking of beetroot, one commonly imagines it as red and round, slightly elongated. However, there are varieties that are particularly interesting for their colours and unique shapes, even for the unusual colour of their flesh. Among them, three varieties of beetroot deserve your special attention.

Beetroots ‘Burpee’s Golden‘, ‘Chioggia’ and ‘Egyptian Flat Black’.

1. The American beetroot ‘Burpee’s Golden stands out for the beautiful orange colour of its epidermis, and for its golden yellow flesh that takes on a turmeric hue when cooked. A particularly stunning golden yellow coat for a beetroot.
2. The ‘Chioggia’ beetroot may seem quite common at first due to the round shape of its pink roots. It is when cut that one notices the aesthetic potential of this variety, which offers a very graphic flesh, marked with concentric pink and white rings.
3. The ‘Egyptian Flat Black’ beetroot is remarkable for its spherical and flattened shape, as well as for its smooth purplish epidermis, and its very dark blood-red flesh. In the garden, this beetroot sits just above the surface, appearing to rest on the soil.

Depending on the flavour and use of the roots

Beetroot is known for its sweet flavour and crunchy texture when eaten raw, and tender when cooked. However, some varieties offer particularly remarkable taste qualities.

Beetroots ‘Crapaudine’ and ‘Cylindra’ © La Ferme de Sainte-Marthe

The ‘Crapaudine’ beetroot offers truly exceptional taste qualities, despite the unappealing appearance of its very elongated roots with cracked epidermis, reminiscent of a toad’s skin. Indeed, the flesh of the ‘Crapaudine’ is very sweet, and its flavour is much less earthy than that of most other beetroots. This tasty variety is perfect both raw and cooked, particularly in salads and beetroot juice.

The ‘Chioggia’ beetroot offers a flesh that is both mild and very sweet, making it a variety as beautiful as it is delicious. However, it is preferred to be consumed raw, as its lovely colours fade when cooked. Eaten raw, dressed with a drizzle of walnut oil, it adds a sweet note and original colours to your summer salads.

The ‘Burpee’s Golden’ beetroot is equally surprising for its golden yellow colour as for its tender flesh with a very sweet flavour, with hints of honey. This beetroot is also appreciated for its leaves, which have a sweet and aromatic taste, consumed either cooked or raw.

The ‘Cylindra’ beetroot, although unoriginal in its shape and colour, offers a fine, mild, and sweet flavour, ideally consumed sliced into rounds with a splash of balsamic vinegar. It is worth noting the surprising caramel notes that this variety reveals when cooked, as well as its exceptionally melting texture.

Finally, the flat black beetroot from Egypt is a variety that is tasty, and especially rich in juice. It is preferably consumed raw, although it retains its lovely appearance when steamed or roasted.

According to the root size and the productivity of beetroot

The size of the roots of beetroot can also be part of your selection criteria. In this case, be aware that the ‘Cylindra’ beetroot produces particularly long and wide roots, reaching 20 to 30 cm in length and 20 cm in width. Due to the exceptional dimensions of its roots, this beetroot offers excellent yield.

The ‘Chioggia’ beetroot, as well as the ‘black flat of Egypt’, are also productive vegetable varieties, with a yield per m² generally ranging between 1.5 and 4 kg.

Beetroot ‘Yellow of Vauriac’

Fodder varieties are also very interesting due to the size of their roots. Indeed, the ‘Yellow of Vauriac’ beetroot produces large conical roots, which can reach 20 cm in length, while the ‘giant red’ fodder beetroot produces thick cylindrical roots measuring up to 25 cm in length. These two particularly productive varieties, however, have little culinary interest, which explains why they are generally reserved for animal feed.

Depending on the harvest period of beetroot

To start your harvests as early as possible in the season, opt for early varieties of beetroot. The ‘Egyptian Flat Black’ beetroot is particularly an early and very early variety that can be harvested from May until November. The ‘Burpee’s Golden’ beetroot is a relatively early variety, sown as early as the end of February in sheltered trays, or from April in situ, for staggered harvests between early July and late October. Meanwhile, the ‘Chioggia’ is among the early varieties that can be harvested approximately 50 days after sowing, between July and October.

To enjoy your beetroot harvests for as long as possible, also consider late autumn and winter varieties. Among them, we have the ‘Crapaudine’ beetroot, which is harvested from July until November depending on the sowing date.

Useful resources

• Want to learn more about growing beetroot? Discover all of Aurélien’s tips!
• The selection of the six best varieties of beetroot from Pascale should also whet your appetite!
• All our varieties of beetroot are available for sale in the Promesse de Fleurs online shop.