When I buy beetroot, I have an automatic instinct to pick up a good goats cheese but there are so many pairings for this wonderful root vegetable. The clever people at Foraging Fox (FF) have taken this earthy red globe and developed three types of Beetroot Ketchup. A small kitchen enterprise has grown into a full-blown business and currently this wonderful condiment is on sale via their website, in small farm shops and retailers and Ocado. People like it. People like it a lot, and if I was a buyer I’d be straight on it. Sure the ambient market is full of quirky flavours in the condiment aisle from bacon jam to naga chilli sauce (I know, I’ve tasted a fair few in my role as a Great Taste Judge) but this ketchup is versatile and cliché or not, does go with everything.
I was sent two bottles, of their 100% Beetroot Ketchup, there are now three.
Beetroot is a vegetable with many health benefits, producing iron, folic acid and anti-oxidants, all assumed by doctors to lower blood pressure and help stave off cancer.
Sure you can put it on burgers and sausages, meat or otherwise but this is a clever cupboard staple. I mixed up a dressing with FF, wholegrain mustard, some sherry vinegar and good olive oil and seasoning and this made a fine leaf salad . Drizzled over oranges, with a little fresh mint, this is a wicked summer citrus salad. Again, over some grated carrot and fennel. FF is a perfect addition to quality mayonnaise, a flavoursome base for red cabbage and carrot.
I also added a couple of tablespoons to a can of drained chickpeas, whizzed up with garlic cloves and a little red wine vinegar. Toast pitta bread and slice into fingers or serve with crispbread for a quick snack.
Love a bloody Mary? Add a little of the Smoked Beetroot Ketchup and you have a brand new drink you can’t get enough of.
Another quick recipe, enhanced by this Ketchup involves a tin of fish – sardines, pilchards, in a plain oil, drained. Add mayonnaise, a dollop of FF, smoked might be nice too, whizz up in a processor, season and serve.
Making biscuits for cheese? Add a couple of tablespoons of FF to your mix to give a natural and bright colour to complement your platter.
Liven up nursery mashed potato with a tablespoon of hot FF.
The list is endless ….. So good is this ketchup, you may want to take a small vial with you wherever you travel to add a little zing to the bland.
