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Horseradish Information
Just got back from the post office, and the horseradish is on the way. Florence should have it within 2-3 days. I also included a few leaves so you know what it looks like when it starts coming up. One leaf is real small, and I hope it doesn't get lost.
I also included planting instructions, and instructions on how to prepare it. Just in case the thing gets damp I will include all the instructions in this message and the following one. Please let me know when you receive it, and how you make out with it.
Title Planting Horseradish
Keywords *, Horseradish, Planting, Info
Horseradish seems to grow in any kind of soil. I have two beds of horseradish, one of which is in good soil, flat and level and the other is in rocky clay type soil and on a hill. One receives a lot of sun and the other is in shade most of the time. The soil is supposed to be well drained, but my flat bed isn't and does well.
I suggest planting horseradish in an area you don't want to mow. To plant, clear an area of weeds and or grass. Cut root into 1 to 1 1/2 inch pieces, each piece of root will give you one plant. Plant about a 1/2 inch deep and 2 inches apart. Water occasionally, if it is hot and dry. Once it gets started it will grow deep and find it's own water.
Don't harvest the first year, let it grow and establish itself. The second year harvest just once, but don't dig it all up. It should come back within a couple of weeks, if you haven't dug to deep and harvested the whole root. Once established, you can harvest several times a year. However, I find it is best when harvested in the fall.
Prepare the horseradish following the recipe enclosed. Cut off about a 1 inch piece from each root you have harvested and replant in a second bed. Once the second bed is established, harvest your horseradish from a different bed each year. This gives the horseradish a chance to recover for a year.
I have been told that horseradish spreads. I have found that this isn't true. For this reason I save some of the root that I dig up and replant it, thus making my beds larger each year. If your spreads, let me know. The roots I am sending you are 10 years old and produce fine every year. Once established horseradish is hard to get rid of, so choose the area you plant it in very carefully.
This horseradish root came from an area where my family has dug horseradish for years. Several years ago a four lane highway was put through the area, but I was lucky in that I rescued some of the horseradish and planted it here at home. As mentioned above, I have two beds of horseradish started from the original wild roots. I have also send root to friends in MA, PA, MD (2), VA, WA, Canada (2), and several friends here in NY.
SOURCE*Jim Bodle
POSTED BY Jim Bodle 7/30/97
End Recipe Export- <o>From Bodle's Roadkill Kitchen <*>
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Hi again,
This is how I prepare it. I can keep 3-4 bottles in the fridge for most of the winter. I simply fill small glass jars with it, then cover with a piece of wax paper, screw the top on and store in the fridge. I have horseradish for most of the winter this way.
Title: Fresh Horseradish
Keywords:*, Horseradish, Preserve, Preserving, Info
- Horseradish Root
- Cold Water
- Crushed Ice
- White Vinegar*
Wash and peel the horseradish root and cut into cubes. Put cubes in blender (process no more than half container at a time). Add enough cold water to cover blender blades. Add several crushed ice cubes. If needed add more water or crushed ice to complete grinding. When mix reaches desired consistancy, add 2 or 3 teaspoons of vinegar per cup of grated horseradish. Place mixture in small glass jars and screw on the caps tight. Store in the refrigerator or freezer.
*Lemon juice can be substituted for the vinegar.
Note The timing of adding the vinegar is important. Vinegar stops the enzymatic action which creates the herbs heat. If you want it not to hot, add vinegar immediately. If you like it as hot as can be, wait 3 minutes before adding vinegar. I don't like vinegar and always use lemon juice, which also stops the enzymatic action.
-End Recipe Export- <o>From Bodle's Roadkill Kitchen <*>
And now for some trivia, and some other stuff.
Title Horseradish Information Keywords Horseradish, Info
From Horseradish Power! Published by the Horseradish Information Council, Post Office Box 720299, Atlanta, GA 30358.
Rediscovering Our Roots The history of horseradish is intricate and mysterious, but one certainty stands; Horseradish has been prized for its medicinal and gastronomic qualities for centuries.
The Egyptians knew about horseradish as far back as 1500 BC - the estimated date of the Exodus. We're told it's one of the five bitter herbs which Jews were instructed to eat at Passover. Early Greeks used it as a rub for lower back pain. Some valued it as an aphrodisiac; others were convinced it cured rheumatism.
Legend has it the Delphic oracle told Apollo, "the radish is worth its weight in lead, the beet its weight in silver, the horseradish its weight in gold."
More recent appreciation of horseradish is believed to have originated in Central Europe, the area also linked to the most widely held theory of how horseradish was named. In German, its called "meerrettich" (sea radish)because it grows by the sea. Many believe the English mispronounced the German word "meer" and began calling it "mareradish." Eventually it became known as horseradish.
During the Renaissance, horseradish spread from Central Europe northward to Scandinavia and westward to England. It wasn't until 1640, however, that the British themselves ate horseradish - and then it was consumed only by country folk and laborers. By the late 1600s, all the British capitulated, and horseradish was the standard accompaniment for beef and oysters on even the finest tables of those Englishmen with "gentle and tender stomachs."The English, in fact, grew the pungent root at inns and coach stations, to make cordials to revive exhausted travelers. Early settlers brought horseradish to North America and began cultivating it in the colonies. It was common in the northeast by 1806, and was growing wild near Boston by 1840.
Commercial cultivation in America began in the mid 1850s, when immigrants started horseradish farms in the Midwest. By the late 1890s, a thriving horseradish industry had developed in an area of fertile soil on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River.
Later, smaller centers of horseradish farming sprouted in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. After World War II, homesteaders in the Tulelake region of Northern California began cultivating the root in the west; other areas in the country followed suit. today, approximately 6 million gallons of prepared horseradish are produced annually in the U.S. - enough to generously season sandwiches to reach 12 times around the world.
Making Horse Sense:
When it's hot, it's hot!
The horseradish is a member of the mustard family (sharing lineage with its gentler cousins, kale, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts and the common garden radish) and is cultivated for its thick, fleshy white roots.
The bite and aroma of the horseradish root are almost absent until it is grated or ground. During this process, as the root cells are crushed, volatile oils are released. Vinegar stops this reaction and stabilizes the flavor. The degree of "heat" generated is determined by when the vinegar is added. For milder horseradish, the vinegar is added immediately.
Prime Time: To relish the full flavor of processed horseradish, it must be fresh and of high quality. color varies from white to creamy beige. As processed horseradish ages, it browns and loses potency. Replace with a fresh jar for full flavor enjoyment.
To savor horseradish at its best,
- - buy only the amount you will use in a reasonable time
- - keep in a tightly covered jar in the refrigerator to protect freshness
- - serve the desired amount of horseradish in a glass or ceramic bowl (it tarnishes silver), returning the tightly closed jar to the refrigerator immediately. Horseradish that remains refrigerated gradually loses flavor.
Horseradish Trivia
Horseradish is still planted and harvested mostly by hand.
Sales of bottled horseradish began in 1860, making it one of the first convenience foods.
In the American South, horseradish was rubbed on the forehead to relieve headaches (Some folks still swear by it.)
Horseradish is added to some pickles to add firmness and "nip."
Before being named "horseradish," the plant was known as "redcole" in England and as "stingnose" in some parts of the U.S.
Horseradish has only 2 calories a teaspoon, is low in sodium and provides dietary fiber.
Researchers at MIT claim that the enzyme "horseradish peroxidase" removes a number of pollutants from coal conversion waste water.
The most widely recognized horseradish fan in all the world may be Dagwood Bumstead, who consumes it regularly in the popular comic strip "Blondie," by Dean Young and Stan Drake.
Germans still brew horseradish schnapps...some also add it to their beer.
From Becci McClain 1/95
REPOSTED By Jim Bodle 2/96
-End Recipe Export- <o>From Bodle's Roadkill Kitchen <*>