Salade de Betterave

The beet tells you everything before the knife does. When it's cooked properly, the skin slips away under your thumb and the flesh shines deep red, sweet and earthy, ready to drink lemon and olive oil.

This salad belongs to the spread of salades cuites, the cooked salads that open many Moroccan meals. Zaalouk, taktouka, carrots with cumin, beets like these: small plates, strong flavors, bread moving from one to the next. The beet must be tender all the way through before you dress it, because the seasoning can't rescue a hard center. Cook it whole, peel it, dice it, and dress it while it still has a little warmth so the cumin blooms and the lemon settles in.

Serve it chilled or at room temperature, but never cold enough to taste asleep. Put it in the middle with khobz and let people reach. Une table, c'est une porte qu'on laisse ouverte, and even a bowl of beets can hold it open.