Candied Horseradish

Candied strips of horseradish: a delicious, if not curative, snack

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City/Region: United States of America

Time Period: 1916

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There were all kinds of ways to cure the plague during the Middle Ages. You could carry around fresh herbs to smell, drink powdered emeralds, whip yourself so God didn’t feel the need to punish you with illness, bathe in and drink the urine of someone who was healthy, and all manner of other quite grotesque methods.

A less gross way to do it was to balance your humors by eating certain foods. All kinds of illness were thought to be caused by an imbalance of the black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood in your body, and eating foods with the right properties could balance them out. If you had too much phlegm (cold and wet), you could eat some horseradish (hot and dry) to achieve that balance.

While this won’t cure plague, it is a delicious snack. The horseradish loses all of its heat, and you’re left with the flavor without the burn. It’s sweet and crunchy, and of all the ways to cure plague that didn’t work, this one has got to be one of the most delicious.

“Chapter Eight To Candy Horseradish. Take the horseradish and scrape it and make it clean with water. And then chop it all finely, and then put it on the fire with water for nine days, changing the water each day. And, once all the salt is removed, have your honey made, and, well skimmed as it is said before, add it all to the honey or syrup and boil it rapidly so that the syrup is done when it makes threads. And for one pound of horseradish one pound of honey is enough.”

— Libre de Totes Maneres de Confits, translated by Vincent Cuenca

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Ingredients:

• 3 oz (80 to 90 g) horseradish
• About 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar*
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) water*

*Instead of sugar and water, you can use 1 cup (335 g) honey.

Instructions:

1. Wash and peel the horseradish, then slice it into 2 inch (5 cm) strips about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick.
2. Mix the salt into a small saucepan of water. The measurements don't need to be precise here because you're going to soak the horseradish later to get rid of the saltiness. Bring it to a boil.
3. Add the horseradish and boil for 30 to 45 minutes, or until it’s very soft. Keep an eye on the water and add more boiling water if it starts to get low. You don’t want the horseradish to scorch.
4. When the horseradish is soft, drain it and put it into a bowl with cold water. Let the horseradish soak for at least 8 hours, changing the water a couple of times. This process is to get most of the salty and sharp horseradish flavor out.
5. After the horseradish has soaked, stir together the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Set it (or honey if you’re using it instead) over medium heat until it boils.
6. Once boiling, add the drained horseradish and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. It’s done when the syrup forms soft threads when you lift a piece of horseradish from the liquid.
7. Remove the horseradish from the syrup and place each piece separately on a wire rack to dry.
8. When the candied horseradish has dried, serve it forth.

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