Beet, Turnip, Radish, Onion, and Others The members of this mixed category of vegetables sit at or just below ground level, and have one characteristic in common: they store little starch compared to most roots and tubers They’re therefore usually less dense, cook more rapidly, and retain a moist texture Beets Beet “roots” are mainly the lower stem of Beta vulgaris, a native of the Mediterranean and Western Europe People have eaten this plant since prehistory, initially its leaves (chard, p 325), then the underground part of specialized varieties (subspecies vulgaris) In Greek times beet roots were long, either white or red, and sweet; Theophrastus reported around 300 BCE that they were pleasant enough to eat raw The fat red type is first depicted in the 16th century Table beets are about 3% sugar and some large animal-feed varieties are 8%; in the 18th century, selection for sugar production led to sugar beets with 20% sucrose Colored beets owe their red, orange, and yellow hues to betain pigments (p 268), which are water-soluble and stain other ingredients There are variegated varieties with alternating red layers of phloem tissue and unpigmented layers of xylem (p 262); they look their best in raw slices because cooking causes cell damage and pigment leakage When we eat beets, the red pigment is usually decolorized by high stomach acidity and reaction with iron in the large intestine, but people sometimes excrete the intact pigment, a startling but harmless event The persistent firmness of cooked beets is caused by phenolic reinforcement of the cell walls, as in bamboo shoots and water chestnuts (p 283) ... Colored beets owe their red, orange, and yellow hues to betain pigments (p 268), which are water-soluble and stain other ingredients There are variegated varieties with alternating red layers of phloem tissue... with alternating red layers of phloem tissue and unpigmented layers of xylem (p 262); they look their best in raw slices because cooking causes cell damage and pigment leakage When we eat beets, the red pigment is usually decolorized by high stomach acidity... is usually decolorized by high stomach acidity and reaction with iron in the large intestine, but people sometimes excrete the intact pigment, a startling but harmless event The persistent firmness of cooked beets is caused