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Horseradish Sauce
A good-sized stick of horseradish is required, which should be grated into a bowl and a teaspoonful of mustard, a little salt, one-quarter of a pint of cream and vinegar to taste added. Stir all well together.
A cold, uncooked sauce that lives or dies by the freshness of the root. Everything here happens in one bowl, so the only decisions are quantity, timing and how much heat you want left in it.
- The hinge: vinegar stops the burnGrated horseradish develops its pungency through an enzyme reaction that begins the moment the cells are cut, and acid arrests it. Add the vinegar immediately for a mild sauce, or wait two or three minutes for a fierce one.
- A good-sized stickReckon on a piece of root about 6 inches long and an inch thick, which grates down to roughly a third of a cup. Peel it first; the skin is tough and bitter.
- A quarter of a pint of creamIf the book is British, that is 5 fluid ounces, a scant two-thirds of a US cup. The recipe does not say which cream; a rich one is likely intended, and it may be used loose or lightly whipped for a thicker sauce.
- MustardProbably dry mustard powder rather than the prepared jarred kind. A teaspoon of powder is assertive alongside the root; a prepared mustard would bring its own vinegar and seasoning you have not accounted for.
- Grating fumesThe volatile oils released are genuinely eye-watering, considerably more so than onion. Grate with the bowl at arm's length, or pulse the peeled root in a food processor with the lid kept on for a minute after.
- Jarred horseradish insteadIf using prepared horseradish from a jar, drain it well and omit the vinegar entirely, tasting before adding any. It is already acidulated and will thin the cream.
- Yield and keepingThis makes about a cup, enough for six to eight servings with roast beef. It is best within a few hours; the heat fades noticeably by the next day and the cream picks up a sulphurous edge.
Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana), a brassica grown for its root rather than its leaves, was long used in northern and eastern Europe as a medicinal and a condiment for oily fish and boiled meats before it settled into its English role beside roast beef. Cream-based versions, in which the raw grated root was softened with dairy, stand apart from the sharper grated-and-vinegared preparations of German and Jewish cookery. The instruction to add "vinegar to taste" rather than a measured amount reflects real variability in the root, which loses potency in storage and differs by season.