Beet - Candy Cane - 20lbs

Candy Cane beets - traditionally known as Chioggia beets - are an Italian heirloom named for the old fishing town on the Venetian lagoon, where it has been grown since at least the early 1800s. It made its way into American gardens by the late nineteenth century and has stayed in them ever since. Today it goes by "candy cane" or "bullseye" beet, and cut open, it earns both names: concentric rings of candy pink and white, as graphic as anything on a plate.

Chioggia stays on the menu for its flavor, not its looks. It's noticeably sweeter and milder than a red beet, with the clean, tender character of a beet and little of the earthiness that keeps some diners away. It also doesn't bleed. Pink stays pink, so it can sit next to cheese, grains, or fish without staining the plate.

The rings are the one thing to cook around. Heat fades them, so the beet shines raw or barely cooked. Shaved paper-thin, the pattern is fully visible, and the sweetness and snap come through unmasked. The greens are tender and fully edible, so you get a second ingredient from every bunch.

For the Kitchen

• Shave raw on a mandoline for salads, carpaccio, or a plated crudo base
• Quick-pickle in thin rounds, which hold their color and look striking on a board
• Roast whole to concentrate the sweetness, then peel while warm and slice to order
• Pair with burrata, ricotta, or chèvre, and finish with good olive oil and citrus
• Dress with hazelnuts, pistachios, or toasted seeds, and bitter greens for contrast
• Sauté the greens like chard, with garlic and a splash of vinegar

Plenty of vegetables are pretty, but few are this pretty and this good to eat. Chioggia is an old Venetian beet that still looks, and tastes, like nothing else in the walk-in.