Horseradish… it’s not for everyone but we love it.  Find out why

Horseradish can be found growing on the roadside, at the edge of fields and in waste ground.  It grows all year round but is best in the Autumn when the leaves have gone.  This does make finding it harder but if you persevere it is possible.

It’s all in the roots

For a great horseradish sauce you will need the roots from the plant.  The leaves aren’t recommended, unless perhaps you are in a Wilderness Survival situation in which case they can taste a bit like cabbage but we would say best avoided.

To find your horseradish roots you need to first correctly identify the plant.  The plant has large distinctive crinkly leaves that look like upright Dock Leaves.  However you will be able to confirm your find by tearing off a small part of the leaf, scrunching it in your fingers and giving it a good sniff.  Smells like Horseradish, then you’ve hit the jackpot.

Horseradish can be made in to a lovely sauce which accompanies beef, oily fish and other foods (I love it with everything).  We make our Horseradish sauce by peeling (this is time consuming but well worth it) the root.  Then roughly chopping it up.  Add white wine or cider vinegar.  (At this point you can freeze the mix for later use).  Blend this in a food processor.  Add salt and pepper.  Then fold this mix in to plain yoghurt or creme fraiche.  If you are feeling particularly brave you can add either powdered English mustard or chili.

Once made it is best stored in the fridge and used within a week (not that it lasts this long in our house).

We’d love to hear your own methods for making horseradish, so please comment below.

I would thoroughly recommend Food for Free, by Richard Mabey as a great all round foraging reference book.

Always Identify any wild food before consumption.  ID, ID, then ID again!  If you have any questions please post them on here or via our contact page.

Happy Foraging

Greg