Radis au beurre are often seen as breakfast radishes. These radishes which appear in springtime, have a lovely candy cane color palette and, if you clean them well, make for a striking presentation when you put them out in a big white bowl. Leave the leaves on as a handy holding point.
Serve them simply, as the French do, with softened butter and coarse French sea salt. These are longer, milder radishes, compared to the hotter, round varieties. This makes a stylish hors d’oeuvre or canapes with aperitifs.
The butter acts as a fatty foil to the bracing heat of the raw radish, and the salt adds electricity.
- 20 long radishes
- ramekins of butter, preferably beurre demi-sel de Bretagne
- Fleur de sel French sea salt
I bought these seeds from Amazon: French Breakfast Radish Seeds – Raphanus Sativus – 3 Grams – Approx 300 Gardening Seeds – Vegetable Garden Seed
The first year I grew radishes, I must have planted fifty seeds, and to my delight—and, honestly, my surprise—every single one sprouted and grew to full size. But when I pulled up the first radish and took a bite, it packed far more eye-watering, horseradish-like heat than the mild crunch of a store-bought red radish.
What I didn’t realize then was that high soil temperatures or inconsistent watering can make radishes intensely spicy. I’d planted mine a bit late in the season. That year, I learned an important lesson about homegrown vegetables: much like wild game, they don’t always taste like their grocery store counterparts. Flavor and texture can vary dramatically depending on how they’re grown.
Instead of tossing those extra-spicy radishes, I found creative ways to put them to good use.
Pickle: Pickling tames both pungency and heat. I also love soaking diced radishes in lime juice and using them as a substitute for jalapeño in pico de gallo.
Cook: Heat softens the bite. Pan-frying radishes in clarified butter or duck fat is especially delicious. Finish them with fresh, woody herbs like rosemary or thyme, plus a good pinch of salt and pepper.
Grate: If your radishes are as fiery as horseradish, why not use them that way? Grate them finely and stir the vibrant pink pulp into mayonnaise or sour cream for a bold sandwich spread or a zesty condiment for steak.
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