Homemade Horseradish Dressing

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone. I love the horseradish theme as we just dug a

bunch up and put a jug of the total tonic on to macerate. Here in

rural Maine oldtimers made their horseradish sauce by peeling and

grinding the roots and adding vinegar and sugar. As an adult I

tried that commercial mayo based horseradish stuff and was disgusted

at the tasteless goo. Good horseradish ought to be something like

the wasabi sauce served at sushi places, take too much and one ought

to be hopping up and down. I make mine with apple cider vinegar and

honey and found mustard to be a wonderful additive. The stuff

looses it's potency after a while in the fridge so I don't like to

do much more than a pint at a time.

From an herbalist perspective it makes a lot of sense that

rural new englanders would cultivate and use this stuff especially

when we look at the old traditional winter diet. Meats, corn bread,

baked beans, salt cod, potatoes, breads, etc. with little fresh

stuff. Having a warming stimulant to kick start the digestive

process goes a long ways towards avoiding illness after a winter of

that fare.

ROOT CULTIVATION: Find a clump (the neihbor had it growing

wild in his field from an earlier person's homesteading attempt) and

dig it up. Cut off the top and divide the roots up. Plant along

the edges of your garden as a nice border that helps repel potato

bugs (in theory anyway, I don't think much deters them for very

long). Horseradish will compete with field grass and everything

else with a minimum of care. Don't harvest for at least 2 years.

When you do take some make sure to replant some root sections so the

plant (your medicine patch) gets to expand it's territory.