Herb. No. 123 · Brassicaceae
Southeastern European and West Asian perennial, a garden runaway in cool climates.
Native · Europe · West Asia
Native Also grownNow a garden plant worldwide
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Horseradish
Armoracia rusticana
Medicinal herbsKitchenHarvestCompanions
The sinus-clearing white root of spring — a prepared-sauce plant with a traditional wet-cough folklore.
Horseradish is a hardy Brassica whose grated root weeps a volatile oil that opens the head and then vanishes if you wait. Traditional European use is as a pungent with beef, and as a short wet-cough and sinus folklore. Culinary amounts are the daily path. Prepared sauce in vinegar holds the heat; a dry root in a drawer is a stick.
Flavor
Clean, hot, tear-jerking, then gone. Vinegar catches it; cream softens it.
Parts used
Fresh root
Helpful
- Indestructible once planted
- A true kitchen heat
Cautions
- It will own a bed
- Raw root on skin can blister