When Beet Your Meat first started as an initial concept idea, the main focus was creating a fermented beet-based hot sauce. Beets are an awesome vegetable that is criminally under-utilized. The seasonality of beets is late fall to early spring for prime flavor profiles, however even year-round, they’re still abundantly available. Beets also act as a great vessel for spice. The hearty flavor can help complement, not dominate, and it’s also not so subtle of a flavor the spice can overwhelm it.
It wasn’t until I had a name in hand for this fermented hot sauce that the vision was locked in. Once “Beet your Meat” entered my brain, I knew I had to make it a reality. Immediately I thought of horseradish. Beets and horseradish go hand in hand together in so many ways. As I started developing the flavor profiles and doing test batches for the ratios, I added the subtleties in. I didn’t want a dominating garlic flavor, but it still needed to be present. The fennel was a perfect addition because anise flavor compliments the earthy tones of beet and horseradish root nicely. And then finally, the hint of porcini mushroom, not as a flavor addition, but rather umami enhancer. The rich earth tones of porcini just absolutely coat your palette.
When we first tried the final experimental batch, our eyes lit up. That was the flavor. The initial tang of the fermented ingredients mixed with the kombucha perfectly melds into the subtly sweet and earthy tone of beets, then finishes with that spicy horseradish and Fresno pepper kick, leaving your palatte tingling for more.
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