The Bitterest Herb

To my taste, there are meats whose success depends upon an accompanying condiment. Ham isn’t ham without mustard, lamb must have its mint jelly . . . and you can keep your roast or boiled beef if there’s no horseradish.

While mustard comes from seeds and mint jelly from leaves, horseradish is from a stout, white-fleshed root. Native to southeastern Europe, horseradish has become naturalized in much of the Continent, Britain and North America--a polite way of saying the plant escaped from cultivated gardens and galumphed its way over hill and dale, becoming a weed in some places. However, this form of radish is little known in Asia, which means millions enjoy their beef without it. Too late for me.

When the thick tan skin has been peeled off, the root is almost always finely shredded or ground--it’s hot stuff, and offering up thick pieces is downright wicked. If you’ve only tasted horseradish out of a jar from the deli case, you’ve short-changed yourself. The freshly finely ground root has a verve you’ll never get from the bottled stuff.

Grating the root by hand can be as weepy a matter as grating onions. In fact, their chemistry works the same way. Cut into horseradish and mustard oil is released just as sulfur is released when you slice an onion.

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Although I enjoy grating with the fine teeth of my porcelain ginger grater, it’s more intelligent to throw nubbins of horseradish into a blender and let the machine grate it. When using a machine, first peel the root, then slice it lengthwise with a stainless steel knife (carbon steel discolors the flesh), taking off pieces around the core, which can be stringy and tough, then whiz until smooth. About three-quarters pound of root yields one grated cup.

You’ll see horseradish roots at the market in spring because its big commercial demand is during Passover. This Jewish springtime holiday commemorates the deliverance of the ancient Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, and the Seder is the ritual Passover meal around which the story is retold. On the large Seder plate in the center of the table are several foods, each symbolic. Horseradish root is the maror , representing bitter herbs--the bitterness of slavery. Then during the meal, everyone makes a Hillel sandwich, grated horseradish spread between crispy matzos. Since the Bible commanded the Jews to eat matzo and bitter herbs at the Seder, nearly 2,000 years ago the venerated sage, Rabbi Hillel, combined them in a sandwich.

As with so many culinary traditions, there’s much more to the Hillel sandwich than a tasty jolt. Horseradish is a circulatory and digestive stimulant, which one can use in the midst of a long, rich, emotional meal. I don’t keep it for Seders but treat myself to Hillel sandwiches a number of times a year, to clear away the cobwebs.

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The way I like horseradish best is to temper its pungence with sweet beets, a marriage made in heaven. Usually the proportions are a teaspoon of pureed cooked beets to a quarter cup of horseradish, as much as we eat at one meal--the root should be grated fresh for each serving.

Horseradish combines happily with many sauce ingredients. Ever taste red currant jelly made with mustard and spread over pork? Then you’ll know what I mean when I suggest red currant jelly mixed with horseradish for white meats. If mustard-mayonnaise is great with cold crab, shrimp, and other seafood, horseradish-mayonnaise is the more exciting. Instead of a mustard cream sauce--which the English serve over grilled fish--flavor a medium cream sauce (every basic cookbook has the recipe) with finely grated horseradish and spoon it over assertively flavored vegetables such as broccoli, carrots and asparagus for a delicious dinner party first course. When you’re serving sausages, try the Alsatian tradition of grated horseradish blended into applesauce.

To me, the most heavenly way with horseradish is to beat twice as much cold heavy whipping cream as finely grated horseradish until stiff then fold the two together just before serving. Some palates want a thread of lemon juice added, some want a sprinkling of sugar. Half a cup of cream makes about one cup of sauce, enough for me and my rare roast beef. Horseradish in sour cream is almost as divine.

Pungency varies with the seasons and the age of the root, however, so it’s wise to add horseradish s-l-o-w-l-y, tasting as you go.

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Though the roots are readily available this time of year, spring is not prime horseradish time. Spring is when it should be planted , and that makes spring-harvested roots a year old. Late autumn is best for tasting, when roots are young and tender.

So grow your own!

Where to place horseradish in the garden? Its portion from Mother Nature is cruel. A horseradish plant can flower, but its seed pods are barren. The only way for the plant to increase is by its roots, so naturally, they grow aggressively. That’s why, when starting a plant, you should either set the root in a large plastic pot sunk in the ground so the roots can never escape, or plant it someplace where, if it does keep moving, you can still outrun it.

Another reason to grow your own is that in spring you can add the peppery young horseradish leaves to salads. As they grow, the leaves lengthen to spear shapes and turn coarse and dull.

Like all members of the mustard family, horseradish grows fast, particularly when it’s given its druthers. Its druthers are a spot with a deep couple of feet of soil that’s loose, fertile (lots of well aged manure) and moist. I can’t be bothered digging more than a foot down, because I know full well the roots will shoot a couple of feet deep whether the soil is ideal or not. Horseradish likes sunshine where summers are cool. Where it’s super-hot, give it some shade.

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To plant horseradish, take a piece of root about as thick as your middle finger and twice as long. Slip it into moist earth above where you’ve prepared the soil, but on the diagonal, with its top end a couple of inches beneath the soil (a curious custom, but I do as the old gardeners tell me). The root will make a turn and head straight down, like a demon homesick for hellfire. If you want lots of roots, start other plants a foot apart.

Although a hardy perennial (it can handle very cold weather and will last years), best pull up the plant in October. Trim the tops to an inch, lay the roots in barely moist sand and store in a cool place. In late winter or early spring, plant out the roots. This lifting and replanting keeps control of the plant and ensures tender fleshy roots to eat. If you have more roots than you want to replant, scrub them clean but don’t peel, set them in a jar, cover with white vinegar and refrigerate. Grate fresh as needed.

Maliner Kreb is the only named horseradish cultivar I’ve seen, but it’s said to be “the true Bohemian.”

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Fresh: At the markets.

Roots for planting (shipped only in spring): Maliner Kreb from Nichols Garden Nursery, 1190 North Pacific Highway, Albany, Ore. 97321-4580.

Thompson can be reached via TimesLink e-mail at bubq86e. For information on TimesLink, call (800) 792-LINK, ext. 274.