[Sca-cooks] ground horseradish root

[Sharon Palmer]

>I have wondered how horseradish got the "horse" prefix and wondered 
>if that allusion to horses was in other languages or not.

http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/Armo_rus.html

"The English name horseradish is allegedly derived by 
misinterpretation of the German Meerrettich as mare radish ("mare" 
being the English term for a female horse, for those of other 
mother-tongues). On the other side, several English plant names 
contain an element horse to denote "large" or "strong"; if one 
adopted the theory that horseradish is of the same kind, the name 
would actually parallel German Meerrettich. "

The Spice pages is a great site to check for more information about 
spices, and for the names in many languages.  Click the link by 
"Synonyms" to see the name in 61 languages.

Also "Intact horseradish root does not exhibit much aroma, but on 
cutting, shredding and especially grating, a pungent and 
lachrymatory, very strong odour is released. This odour is, however, 
not stable but vanishes after some ten or twenty minutes."

Ranvaig