Horseradish Analog - Katran

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Among the spices grown in our beds, there are old, time-tested plants. But their ranks from time to time are replenished with new representatives, gradually gaining sympathy and popularity

Horseradish

The ubiquitous dill shares the primacy in the prevalence of spicy vegetable plants with horseradish. The popularity of horseradish was expressed by the people in proverbs and sayings. One of them says that in a foreign land even sweets seem bitter, like mustard, and in the homeland, and hell for a lollipop.

But not for the "candy taste" people greet horseradish, but for the phytoncides contained in it, which can protect a person from painful misfortunes and invisible insidious viruses.

Many appetite-stimulating seasonings are made from horseradish roots. Other medicinal qualities of horseradish are also known, as well as its indispensability for salting vegetables.

But few people know that with the help of horseradish roots, many berries can be kept fresh until spring. For example, a birthday cake for March 8th can be garnished with fresh berries picked from your own garden last summer. It can be black currants, gooseberries, cherries, grapes harvested in late summer or early autumn.

For storage, unripe berries are chosen, without damage. They are washed with cold water, a shaded space is selected where the berries can be dried.

While the berries are drying in the shade, glass jars or bottles with wide necks are boiled and dried. A layer of freshly dug horseradish roots cut into thin pieces is placed on the bottom of the glass container. A circle is cut out of the cardboard, equal in size to the bottom of the container. A few holes are made in it with an awl. The mug is impregnated with paraffin or wax so that it does not turn into a sponge to draw moisture from pieces of horseradish and berries.

Laying a cardboard circle on top of the horseradish pieces, fill the container with dried berries. The container is sealed with sterile stoppers, which are poured with sealing wax. In such a package, berries are not afraid of any harmful microorganisms, and they perfectly retain their appearance and internal qualities until spring, if you store the container in a cool room or in a cellar.

Katran

If you hardly surprise anyone with horseradish, then not many people know the plant with the name "Katran". Although in its taste and spicy aroma, the delicate roots of katran are very similar to the roots of horseradish.

In addition, katran has

a number of advantages in front of horseradish in terms of growing it.

What is the difference between katran and horseradish

• He does not seek to spread over the entire site, drowning out other crops, but clearly knows his place in the garden.

• While horseradish does not bloom, therefore, does not produce seeds, but reproduces only vegetatively, Katran gives abundant flowering in mid-May. Its white or pinkish small flowers turn the katrana bush into a decorative decoration of the garden, filling it with a strong pleasant honey aroma. Gardener's assistants, bees, and other useful insects flock to the smell. And from flowers, seeds are obtained that can continue the life of a plant.

• Differs in high productivity. In addition to the roots, its spring fleshy thick shoots are suitable for food. They are similar to asparagus or cauliflower and are suitable for vitamin salads, as they are rich in vitamins and other beneficial components. Sometimes katran is called seaweed, although it is a purely terrestrial plant.

• Fresh greens of katran can be had even in winter, using its roots for distillation.

Katran is an unpretentious plant. It does not like “moving”, preferring to live in one place for up to 15 years. To make the plant comfortable, you should regularly loosen the soil, periodically feed it with mineral and organic fertilizers, and water it in dry weather.

Attention

To preserve the color and smell of dry spicy plants for a long period, they should be stored in dark jars, hermetically sealed.