Radish

A radish is a common root vegetable. When most people picture radishes, they think of the tiny, red globes that are commonly sliced and added to salads. However, radishes come in a wide variety of colors and shapes. Radish skins may be red, green, pink, white, purple, brown, or even black. Underneath these skins, most radishes have a mainly white inner flesh. The watermelon radish is an exception to this rule; beneath the green skin is a bright pink flesh that gives the radish an appearance similar to the summertime fruit when sliced open. Radishes may have an elongated shape, or they can be round or oval in appearance. While radish leaves are edible, most people eat the roots, many of which are described as having a spicy or peppery flavor.

Radishes belong to the Brassicaceae family of plants that includes cabbage, mustard greens, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, and turnips. The domesticated radish's scientific name is Raphanus sativus; Raphanusbeing a Greek word that means "rapidly appearing." The name likely refers to the radish's ability to grow and mature very quickly. It only takes between four and ten weeks to grow many types of radishes, and some can be grown year-round if there is adequate sunlight, soil, and water. Still, radishes are generally categorized by when they are harvested. Winter radishes—which include the daikon, black Spanish, and China rose varieties—are planted in mid to late summer and harvested in the fall. This type of radish takes longer to grow than the spring and summer varieties, sometimes needing up to seventy days to mature. Spring and summer radishes—which include the French breakfast, watermelon, and cherry belle varieties—can be planted anytime from early spring to summer and are harvested anytime in between, as most only require between twenty-two and thirty days to grow.

Brief History

The exact origin of the cultivated radish is unknown. Most experts suspect that the plant was first domesticated in China thousands of years ago, but some believe that the plant was cultivated in the eastern Mediterranean region. Still others note that the wild radish was eaten throughout various parts of the Old World since ancient times, making the vegetable's origins difficult to pinpoint. Although most people think of radishes as tiny red vegetables, the radishes that were farmed and eaten thousands of years ago looked very different. The first cultivated radishes were likely black, and, according to historians, the radishes eaten in ancient times were much larger than modern radishes.

Herodotus, the fifth century BCE Greek writer, claimed there was a record in the Great Pyramid in Egypt showing the large amount of radishes eaten by the slaves who helped build the iconic landmark. According to Rebecca Rupp's How Carrots Won the Trojan War: Curious (but True) Stories of Common Vegetables, Roman author Pliny the Elder discussed the Greeks' love of radishes in less than flattering terms in the first century CE. He mocked the Greeks for holding the radish in such high regard. He noted that they had even fashioned a golden radish as an offering left at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. Pliny disliked the vegetable, supposedly because it caused gas and made men belch. However, Pliny's account is significant because it noted the size of the radishes that grew long ago. The author said that many radishes were the size of a baby boy, which was likely around seven pounds. Later, some European writers claimed that radishes could grow to be one hundred pounds.

The eighth-century emperor Charlemagne held the radish in such high esteem that he decreed that his subjects grow the vegetables in their gardens or face consequences. During the Middle Ages, radishes were used for a variety of medicinal purposes, including easing labor pains, treating snake bites, and removing freckles.

Radishes spread throughout Europe during the 1500s, and the vegetables were growing in the American colonies by 1629. However, radishes were not prized for their culinary uses as much in the United States as they were in other parts of the world. In 1888, the editors of the Burpee seed catalog even wrote that they wished Americans appreciated the radish the way the French did. Eventually, some cooks, including Julia Child, helped bring radishes back into the culinary spotlight by showing people that they were more than just garnishes for salads.

Overview

Radishes are grown in many countries around the world. In the United States, California and Florida are the states that produce the most radishes each year. Radishes are available in California every month of the year, and they are available in Florida nine months out of the year. In America, red radishes are the most common type of radish found in grocery stores, and they are often eaten raw in salads.

In other countries, including China and Japan, the vegetables are cooked and even pickled. Daikon radishes are especially common in Japanese cooking, in which the radish is usually grated and added to sauces. Daikon is also used as a condiment in popular dishes such as sashimi and sushi, and people will occasionally use these radishes in stir fries or add them to soups. As their name implies, French breakfast radishes are used in French cuisine. The French often eat these milder radishes with butter, and some people even put them on bread, creating a type of radish sandwich.

Eating radishes provides a number of health benefits. They are free of fat and low in calories, sodium, and cholesterol. Radishes are also high in vitamin C, which is known to help strengthen the immune system. The vegetables also contain the antioxidants sulforaphane and indole-3, which have been shown to help slow or stop the growth of certain cancers in animal testing. These studies suggest that radishes could help the body produce a type of detoxifying enzyme that could help fight against cancer, although more testing is required to determine if humans would experience the same results as animals. To enjoy the benefits of these antioxidants, experts suggest that people eat radishes raw, since cooking the vegetable will break down the compounds that could help fight cancer.

Bibliography

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