Black radish

Interesting facts

The black radish is a member of the Brassica family. The radish originally comes from the Middle East, but is now distributed all over the world. The use of radish is documented in Egypt as early as 2,500 BC. The radish family displays a wide variety of shapes and colours, but the black radish, or winter radish, is a particularly special kind of radish. This is partly due to its velvety, deep black exterior colour.

The black radish is sown directly into the soil in July and August. It prefers a deep, well-loosened, humus-rich soil with an even supply of water. Growing conditions that are too dry combined with high heat cause the radish to become furry with an unpleasantly sharp taste. The even climate and light expanses of northern Germany therefore offer the best conditions for growing winter radish. The black radish will only withstand the frost to a limited extent and must therefore be harvested before the first frost. However, black radish is easy to store and can be freshly processed and made available throughout the winter in good quality. This seasonal availability is what has earned the black radish the name winter radish.

The black radish is much sharper than its white counterpart and is therefore rarely used raw in the kitchen. However, if the radish is finely grated and sprinkled with salt, it loses some of its heat and is ideal as a raw vegetable salad.

 

When cooked, it is used in soups, purées and casseroles. Radish is also a popular medicinal plant in natural medicine and is often used to make a home-made cough syrup.

Tip: Radish is recommended for making an effective cough syrup thanks to its long-established healing effect: Scrape out the insides of the radish and make small holes at the bottom. Mix the scraped-out radish with sugar (or honey) and return to the hollowed-out radish root. The syrup that emerges can be used as cough syrup.

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Country of origin
Germany
Spain
other countries