Disconnect

Horseradish

• it’s pretty easy to forget that horseradishes are actual plants
• and not just a component of a well loved, tangy sauce
• or a component of wasabi
• horseradish is actually a perennial plant in the family Brassicaceae
• its scientific name is Armoracia rusticana
• we’re not really sure what part of the planet it’s native to
• but it’s probably somewhere in southeastern Europe and western Asia
• the part we use for sauce
• is the root
• the part of a horseradish you would see growing in the wild
• is a 4.9 foot tall green, leafy stalk
• with bundles of delicate, white flowers

• if you were to dig up a horseradish root and hold it in your hand
• it wouldn’t smell like anything
• it’s not until you begin to grate or slice the root
• that you get some olfactory inputs
• when you break apart the cells within the root
• enzymes from the cells start to break down sinigrin
• this is a compound that is also found in other plants in this family
• like brussels sprouts and broccoli
• this break down produces another chemical compound that is informally known as mustard oil
• the mustard oil irritates the mucus membranes in your eyes and nose
• and you suddenly feel the tang

It’s a plant, how easily we forget. This seems to be an emergent property of how we get our food. We go to the grocery store, pick up some food products, take them home, and get to munching without ever asking where the contents of the food came from. We’re so disconnected from the process by which plants and animals are raised, harvested/slaughtered, processed, then put on our plates. How to bridge the gap?

Source

Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseradish?oldformat=true>.