"Horseradish, horseradish, my kingdom for horseradish!" (Paraphrasing Richard III in Shakespeare's play.) How do you make beef taste even better? - By dipping it in some horseradish sauce. Currently in my frig is Woeber's Sandwich Pal Horseradish Sauce. If I'm eating a hamburger, steak or beef roast, out comes the horseradish sauce.
Kraft Creamy Horseradish Sauce even says right on the bottle: "Great on Beef!" And Kraft is what I usually buy - just decided to try a different brand this time.
I don't know when I began appreciating the taste of horseradish - probably not until I was in my 30's - but it was around the time the above picture was taken (I was about 12-years-old [me on left, baby bro, Leslie, poking my doll's eye out, my younger sis, Betty, on the right]) when Mom told me how her Dad used to make horseradish for the family.
If I inherited my taste for horseradish from my Grandpa Joe, then maybe he got his liking for it from his German Ridnour heritage. Grandma Delphia and Grandpa Joe were both great gardeners - they had a huge "truck patch" when I was a kid.
But I think it was the place they lived when Mom was a teen where the horseradish grew. She said it was a very large patch. Grandpa would dig the roots in the fall - always leaving some for the next year's crop. I would have no idea how to prepare these roots, but reading online, it appears you should use heavy roots that are as 'hard as wood'. Once any dirt is scrubbed off, use a vegetable peeler to pare off the brown skin - do this under running water which helps carry off some of the 'volatile chemical'. It must be something like peeling and slicing an onion - the tear-producing smell isn't released until the root/bulb is cut into.
I do remember Mom saying how Grandpa had to be so careful about inhaling the fumes as he grated the root - outdoors upwind with a good breeze blowing would work. Apparently the only other ingredients needed are vinegar and salt. I don't know if it was necessary to refrigerate the horseradish or how long it kept. I don't even know how my grandparents ate it - did they mix it with some mayonnaise to make a creamy sauce?
Horseradish (Amoracia rusticana) is a perennial plant of the Brassicaceae family which includes mustard, wasabi, broccoli and cabbages. It grows to five feet tall. Both roots and leaves were used as medicines in the Middle Ages. According to Greek Mythology, the Delphic oracle told Apollo it was worth its weight in gold.
Horseradish can be found growing wild. It can also be quite invasive. I remember discussing with Mom one time about planting some horseradish in her garden. She said she didn't think she wanted to because it would "take over".
Even if I found some horseradish growing, I don't think I would be tempted one bit to dig some roots and make my own horseradish sauce, much simpler and safer to buy it. And if I can find it in a larger grocery store in the city, I am going to try Woeber's Cranberry Horseradish Sauce. I'm almost certain I will like it as much as the regular type because I like cranberry mustard - it would be a win-win if I could find both cranberry horseradish and cranberry mustard. Maybe when the new Whole Foods opens next month?
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