The Countertop Oven Class

Nicholas Gavin is the Culinary Creative Director of ChefSteps, where he develops recipes and is responsible for making all the food look beautiful. Nick has worked at ChefSteps for over a decade; he and ChefSteps co-founder Grant Crilly worked together at Modernist Cuisine. Nick has worked in professional kitchens both in the United States and abroad, most notably at Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain.

Nicholas Gavin

Roasting beets instead of boiling or steaming them helps concentrate their natural sugars and enhance their flavor, which is why we prefer this technique to boiling. This same premise goes for other root vegetables like parsnips or carrots. But why is this true? Neuroscientists have shown that our brains pay attention to the intensity of the tastes in our mouths—sweetness, saltiness, sourness, bitterness, savoriness (umami)—when deciding how flavorful a food seems. If you concentrate the taste molecules during the cooking step, then you can make the overall flavor more pronounced. Leech out the sugar, however, and the flavor will seem diminished. Once roasted, these beets can be used with equal ease as a warm component in a dish—like our <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/duck-breast-beet-and-chocolate">Duck Breast, Beet and Chocolate</a>—or in a cold salad.

Roasted Beets