JohnRH’s worst nightmare

I don’t know the reason; I’m too polite to ask.  Perhaps, like Ada Doom in Cold Comfort Farm, he “saw something nasty in the woodshed” as a child.

Whatever the reason, JohnRH has commented many times on his aversion to beetroot.  I planted some today, so I only thought it fair to warn him.

We love this humble, harmless, red root vegetable.  Roasted, sauted with new potatoes and feta cheese or raw; especialy raw and grated in salads.

We got a taste for this last one, many years ago, in the South of France.  We were in Orange, visiting the Roman ampitheatre - (an aside for all Tour de France lovers; from the top of the ampitheatre we could see in the distance, some 70 miles away, Mt Ventoux).  

It was a hot day.  Really hot.  

We has lunch in a small unprepossessing cafe outside the ampitheatre.  We weren’t sure what to order on such a day, apart from a couple of cold beers.  The waitress brought ‘assiette de legumes’ - a large plate of raw veggies - grated beetroot, celariac and carrot sitting on a bed of lettuce, tomatoes, olives and crowned with a couple of soft boiled eggs.  A  large baguette between us and we had a meal fit for a king; or a Roman Emperor.

A simple enough dish; yet one that was just perfect.  Never underestimate the simple things in life.