Beets with Orange Blossom Water and Moroccan Spices
Region: Morocco
Category: Salads
Season: Any
Difficulty: Easy but takes non-working time

Morocco is abundant with orange trees and orange juice vendors can be found everywhere. Orange flower water is distilled using an alembic, a device for distillation brought to Morocco by the Arabs. Paula Wolfert tells us that they call this syrup made from orange blossom water knelba in Morocco. One usually finds orange blossom water, along with rose water, sold in Middle Eastern markets, although some supermarkets may have it in their international or baking sections. This refreshing meze also goes great with grilled spiced lamb rib chops. This recipe is adapted from Paola Scaravelli and Jon Cohen’s A Mediterranean Harvest published in 1986, wherein they call it, curiously, by the Spanish salata remolacha, which is beet salad.

[photo: Clifford A. Wright]

Yield: Makes 6 servings
Preparation Time: 2 hours

1 pound beets, leaves removed and saved for another purpose

4 cups water

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon orange blossom water

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground cumin seeds

Pinch of ground cinnamon

Juice of 1 lemon

3 scallions, chopped

Salt to taste

1. Place the beets and water in a large saucepan, bring to a boil, covered, and continue to boil until tender, about 1 hour. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water, and peel  the beets when they are cool enough to handle.

2. In a small bowl, combine the reserved cooking liquid, paprika, sugar, orange blossom water, cumin, cinnamon, lemon juice, scallions, and salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves.  Slice the beets thinly and arrange in a serving bowl. Pour the dressing evenly over the beets and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

Variation: 

Note: 

Posted: 12/11/2008

Related Recipes:

Beets with Tuna

Beets with Yogurt