A Most Excellent Sauce For Beetroot

This recipe is drawn from the mid-19th-century manuscript cookbook of Colonel Charles Ellice, a British officer who spent much of his career in India. Compiled over a quarter-century from 1856 to the 1880s, the book reflects both traditional British tastes and the increasing variety of foods encountered abroad. The beetroot sauce, noted as 'Excellent,' shows Victorian care in vegetable cookery and a cosmopolitan approach to seasoning, blending British mustard with the continental practice of oil-and-vinegar dressings. Glen Quoich, the location attributed, was a Highland estate, connecting the recipe both to traditional British kitchen garden produce and to the growing influence of European and colonial cuisines in the officer class.

A small mixing bowl and teaspoon were essential, along with a whisk or fork for blending the dressing. For boiling the beetroot, a medium saucepan or pot would have been used, and the beetroot washed in a basin or under a kitchen pump. A sharp knife was required for slicing the beetroot once cooked. The entire preparation would have relied on strong arm whisking and careful attention to prevent overcooking and colour loss.