Beetroot Purée

I went to a few restaurants this week, but wanted to write about two. A culinary infatuation and a disappointment. Mama Manousche in Wrocław and Ćma by Mateusz Gessler in Warsaw. Can you guess which was which? It probably won’t be difficult. Koszyki is a place I have visited several times. I’m not wildly enthusiastic about it, but I’m not against it either. All in all, an interesting place to drop into occasionally. Preferably during the day, because on weekend evenings it gets so crowded that finding any free space borders on impossible.

Still, we managed it and found a spot at Ćma fairly late on Saturday evening. The restaurant opened by Mateusz Gessler on this side of the Vistula. A disappointment. A complete disappointment. We waited about 20 minutes before we could order. After ordering the steak tartare came failure number 1. As is usual at Gessler’s, the tartare arrives already mixed with its accompaniments, which I actually like, but the amount of it! Excuse me, this was not an order from the children’s menu. Disappointment 2 was the wait for the cepelinai potato dumplings, and disappointment 3 was their flavour. Served on rather mediocre, very salty bigos, made from very dense, hard dough, with very dry, tasteless meat. As if undercooked and underseasoned. Nothing was right.

Mama Manousch was another story. Wow. I had heard something about this restaurant before, but never imagined it would be so good. Perfectly seared tuna, perhaps on slightly too-dry groats, but with perfect accompaniments. Wonderful. The lamb was equally delicious. But the apple mousse really delighted me. Ooh la la. I had not eaten such an outstanding dessert for a long time. Hats off.

And today, to go with my oven-roasted duck, I also made something almost like a mousse: beetroot purée, to be precise. Sweet and good too, but not exactly a dessert. Just an extra helping alongside the duck. I recommend it.

Recipe details:

Preparation time: about 15 minutes

Cooking time: about 30 – 40 minutes (until tender, but not overly so)

Serves: several

Calories: beetroots are healthy, despite their name doubling as a Polish insult

Ingredients for sweet, delicate beetroot purée:

• 3 fairly large beetroots
• a tablespoon of butter
• a teaspoon of lime juice
• 3 tablespoons of 12% cream
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• freshly ground black pepper
• salt

Recipe for beetroot purée:

I boiled the beetroots. Simply cooked them in lightly sweetened water for roughly 40 minutes. Once they had cooled, I peeled and sliced them. I put them in a bowl and added a tablespoon of butter. I blended everything thoroughly into a purée. I added a teaspoon of lime juice and heated it gently. I added 3 tablespoons of 12% cream and mixed thoroughly. Finally, I seasoned with salt and pepper. The beetroot purée was ready.

Enjoy 🙂

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