[Sca-cooks] horseradish

[Pixel, Goddess and Queen]

On Fri, 22 Mar 2002, Susan Fox-Davis wrote:

> > I guess the operative question would then be, does it appear in any
> > other known examples of Middle Eastern cuisine? I don't remember
> > seeing it anywhere except among Ashkanazic Jews and other more or
> > less European cultures, unless you count wasabe. I suspect it is not
> > originally from the Middle East.
> >
> > Adamantius
> > ___________
>
> >From a really interesting page by a Rabbi, about the ongoing evolution
> of his haggadah
> http://www.davka.org/
>
> "In "The History of Horseradish as the Bitter Herb of
>                Passover", Gesher (Bridging the Spectrum of Orthodox
>                Jewish Scholarship), vol. 8 (issue number unclear), the
>                author Arthur Schaffer (then a doctoral candidate in the
>                Department of Horticulture, Rutgers University), makes it
>
>                clear that horseradish could not be the bitter herb
> mentioned
>                in the Bible (aside from it being sharp (jarif) and not
> bitter
>                (mar). Other sources suggest that horehound, an herb,
> which
>                has a bitter taste is the actual item mentioned. An
> additional
>                hint that horehound is Maror is its role as a chest
>                decongestant, something that would be efficacious during
> the
>                early spring with flowing pollen."
>
> Selene, Caid
>
>
The various online sources I just consulted (procrastinating doing actual
work, doncha know) suggest that the plant originated in Eastern Europe,
which would explain its cultural affiliations.

Horehound is apparently native to Europe and Asia. I couldn't say whether
it's bitter or not, but as a child I thought the horehound candies my
father loved were nasty.

Margaret