Video: How to Make Horseradish Cream
Video: How to Make Horseradish Cream
Monday, November 12, 2007
THE RECIPE
A perfect condiment for the Thanksgiving table. Perfectly seasonal and perfectly appropriate. An earthy, pungent contrast to your mashed potatoes or root vegetables, as well as any meat on the table.
Horseradish Cream
serving size: condiment for 4
prep time: 15 minutes
cooking time: none; but let it rest at least overnight, refrigerated. Can keep at least a week.
1/4 cup gently packed fresh-grated horseradish (first peel with carrot grater to expose pure white root)
1/2 cup local creme fraiche or sour cream (sour cream is the more tart of the two)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8-1/4 cup finely diced scallions or wild onion tops (optional)
If you're going to use this in your mashed potatoes, which is an excellent idea, why not add some capers to your liking. That will really kick up your boring mashed potatoes. Or serve on the side with roasted Jerusalem Artichokes. Yummy!
The Root: "Radish" comes from "radix," the Latin word for "root." The "horse" part may have been tacked on to distinguish it from the edible radish and to convey the size and coarseness of the root, as was done for other herbs such as horse mint and horse chestnut. It also could be a bastardization of “harsh radish” due to its bitter flavor. It is a distant cousin to the common radish and the Brussels sprout.
I Didn’t Know:
Horseradish is a 3,000-year-old plant that has been used as an aphrodisiac, a treatment for rheumatism, a bitter herb for Passover seders and as an accompaniment for beef, chicken and seafood. Early settlers brought horseradish to North America and began cultivating it in the colonies. Commercial cultivation in America began in the mid 1850s, when immigrants started horseradish farms in the Midwest. Today, approximately 6 million gallons of prepared horseradish are produced annually in the U.S., 60% of it is farmed four hours south of Chicago.