Ag Minute: Specialty Crop - Horseradish
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Have you ever dipped shrimp into cocktail sauce, spread horseradish sauce on prime rib, or taken a bite of grocery store wasabi with sushi and wondered where that heat actually came from? For most people, horseradish is something that lives in a jar, sits on the side of a plate, or shows up as the sharp bite in a sauce. Very few people would be able to identify a horseradish plant growing in a field. Even fewer would guess that much of the horseradish consumed across the United States likely started in Illinois soil.
Horseradish is a perennial plant in the Brassica family, making it a relative of cabbage, broccoli, mustard, and wasabi. The plant itself grows with large, coarse green leaves that form a rosette above ground, while the commercially valuable portion grows beneath the surface as a long, white taproot. That root is where the heat comes from. When horseradish is cut, grated, or crushed, compounds in the root are released that create the pungent, eye watering bite people recognize. Interestingly, real Japanese wasabi is a different plant entirely, but many wasabi substitutes are made from horseradish with added flavoring and green coloring.Â
Illinois plays a surprisingly large role in this small but important crop. The metro east region near Collinsville, particularly St. Clair, Monroe, and Madison Counties, produces the majority of the horseradish grown in the United States. According to the Belleville News-Democrat, Illinois grows more than two thirds of the nation’s supply, roughly 16 million pounds annually, with around 2,000 acres grown in the metro east region. Major producer J.R. Kelly Company estimates that the area supplies about 70 percent of U.S. horseradish, while the rest comes primarily from California and Wisconsin.Â
The crop fits the region because of the deep, fertile soils in the Mississippi River Valley. Horseradish prefers deep loam or sandy loam soils with good drainage, and shallow soils over hard subsoils which are not ideal for producing quality roots. Production is also far more specialized than most row crops grown in Illinois. Horseradish is planted from root cuttings rather than seed, with root pieces commonly cut 8 to 12 inches long and planted at an angle in rows. Oregon State University notes that roughly 8,700 to 9,700 root cuttings may be needed per acre, and about a year is required to produce a crop. Harvest is usually delayed until fall after frost has killed the tops, and modified potato harvesters are commonly used to dig the roots. Even then, the harvest is not as simple as running a machine through the field on its own. The Belleville News Democrat describes workers following behind equipment to pick up roots missed by the harvester, while produce grade roots are sorted from processor grade roots that will eventually become sauces and other products.Â
Once harvested, horseradish makes its way into far more foods than people realize. Prepared horseradish generally refers to the grated root mixed with vinegar, while horseradish sauce often includes cream or mayonnaise. Horseradish is commonly served with beef, chicken, seafood, and sandwiches. Beyond the classic prime rib pairing, horseradish is used in cocktail sauce, Bloody Mary mix, beef tenderloin sauces, salad dressings, dips, marinades, spreads, and creamy sauces. Morehouse Foods notes that if a food has a sharp, spicy kick, there is a good chance horseradish may be involved. It is one of those ingredients that rarely gets the spotlight, but when it is missing, the flavor is noticeably different.
Horseradish is a great reminder that Illinois agriculture is not only corn and soybeans. Those crops dominate the landscape for good reason, but tucked into the Mississippi River bottoms is a specialty crop that gives one region of the state a national identity. Collinsville is known as the Horseradish Capital of the World, and that title is backed by real production, specialized equipment, local knowledge, and generations of growers who understand a crop most people only know from a jar. The next time cocktail sauce clears your sinuses or a roast beef sandwich has that extra bite, there is a good chance Illinois agriculture had something to do with it.
To read a University of Wisconsin extension article about horseradish plants, follow the link below:
To read the Department of Horticulture article from Oregon State University about horseradish production, follow the link below: