Ravish The Radish: The Root of This Vegetable

The radish may be a root vegetable almost every neophyte gardener laboring in North America can grow, but how many of us actually know much about this legendary eatable?

For starters, did you know that radishes hail back to pre-Roman times and were domesticated all over Europe along with mustard and turnips?

Don’t worry. It didn’t take the world long to notice this bittersweet food that comes in a range of colors from white to the familiar red.

Ravish The Radish: The Root of This Vegetable

There are April cross radishes that grown into white giant varieties and bunny tail radishes that hail from Italy and are almost entirely red but have white tips. Then there are cheery belle radishes, the kind us Americans find in the supermarkets in neat little packages all year long.

Red king radishes are more mild than most while Sicily giants can grow as large as two inches in diameter. Plum purple radishes are actually purple with a tinge of fuchsia and stay crisper longer than any other variety. Then there is the ancient white icicle kind that hearkins back to the 16th century. This variety is white and oddly shaped like a carrot so, as a result, call this kind the chameleon of all radishes.

Now how does this eatable root vegetable show up in the food we eat?

Well, of course, you’ll find radishes in our salads, on our sandwiches, and even as a satisfying starter, served on its own and in its raw form with salt as an added attraction to this popular treat that is also used in many recipes all over the world.

Experimental chefs especially like to cook for with this pungent veggie for instant zest. These professionals are making everything from tofu to tortilla soup to even crab rolls using rashies as an important ingredient.

Finally, in a place in Mexico called Oaxaca, the radish is the reason for an annual festival called Noche de los Rabanos. The celebration is held every Dec. 23 and serves as a way to get ready for Christmas by making all kinds of figurines — religious and otherwise — out of locally produced radishes that are then shown off in the town square of this colorful community for all to admire. And well they should as this particular root vegetable is not afraid to show its spicy side, even when carved and not eaten. Ole!

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