radical radish

This week we are har­vest­ing the first root veg­etable of the sea­son: the radish. The radish, botan­i­cal name Raphanus is a bra­sica and a mem­ber of the cru­cifer fam­ily. The radish, a spicy, often slightly sweet root that tastes great eaten directly out of the ground, as well as in a fresh sum­mer salad is a fast grower with quite a past. The radish has been cul­ti­vated in China since 700 BC. In ancient Greece small repli­cas of the radish were made out of gold and given to the god Apollo. It was her­alded as an appetite stim­u­lant, served in France at the begin­ning of lav­ish fif­teen course
meals at the palace of Ver­sailles dur­ing the reign of Louis XIV.

We planted radish seeds a month ago. Things are start­ing to hap­pen fast in this land of 18 hours of sun­light a day.…

Heres a recipe:

Japan­ese Radish Salad
4 Servings

Ingre­di­ents

8 oz red radishes (large bunch)
1 1/2 ts rice vine­gar
1 ts sugar
1/2 ts low-sodium soy sauce
1 ts toasted sesame seeds; more
–or less
1 radish leaves; garnish

Instruc­tions

Wash the radishes well to remove all grit. Trim, reserv­ing a few leaves
for gar­nish, and thinly slice.
Com­bine vine­gar, sugar and soy and mix to dis­solve sugar. Add the
radishes. Refrig­er­ate for 1 hour. When ready to serve, sprin­kle with
sesame seeds and gar­nish with radish leaves.