Trending!
Jumping on to a tangential curiosity of mine: Anyone tried any rat tail radishes? Any good?
They eat radishes as snacks in Germany too, often with beer, they go well with our dark bread and ham and sausages. They used to cut them in half and salt a bit to make them milder, as they used to be a somewhat sharp. But they seem to have bred the sharpness out of them, now they are rather bland (in my supermarkets, in Belgium too). So now I prefer to pickle them for a couple of hours in diluted vinegar and salt. That is OK. I remember them nicer in my childhood.
In Spain they were mostly unknown in the 70s, now they have the bland variety too.
I have never noticed them in France, I was not paying attention. Will be more careful next time.
Wow… you have really gotten around… 
I’m dazzled.
By that I assume you mean “appetizer” in US English, as an “entreé” here is the main dish?
Western Europe is rather small… I have lived here all my life. Spain, France, Belgium, Germany - you can go from one to the other, they are adjacent (only left out tiny Luxemburg and Andorra, which are easy to miss anyway).
Weird, isn’t it? I mean, look what the word means: to enter.
I’ve also sometimes see radishes in salads. I don’t care much for them, a radish sandwich is too bland for my tastes. Yeah, they have a little hot bite, but they are too watery. I might as well eat cucumber slices sprinkled with pepper. Although a good cucumber salad is a fine thing, but it must have cream, onions and garlic, so it’s a different beast.
I lived for a bit in Paris. Nobody I knew there ate radishes for breakfast. But maybe it’s a rural France thing…
The butter and salt shift the flavor.
I tried roasting radishes, and was disappointed. It’s probably more a “mixed root vegetables” thing.
Indeed. It confused me at first seeing “entreé” on European menus refer to the appetizer until I realized … wait … why doesn’t it mean appetizer in American English?
Anyway, radishes and salted butter are the bomb. I thought that was just the traditional way to eat radishes. Open-faced radish sandwiches are quite delicious as well, mentioned upthread. Get some good bread and good butter and you’re good to go. Delish. My mom used to do this with spring/green onions, as well. A slice of Polish rye, butter, chopped spring onions, and a little extra sprinkle of salt and I was in heaven as a kid. I had forgotten about that until this thread.
Ah yes, the good old “Radi”.
I remember seeing a couple of city seals in munich with the giant white “Beer Radishes” embelishing. They are shaved thin, sprinkled with vinegar, salt and pepper and eaten with brezeln. Quite spicy and bold radishes of a large variety with spicy seed pods.
Crap, I read it too! Now I need to find it again.
I think it is important to note the ontonogical and etymlogical meaning of “Breakfast” Food in All of Europe, which since medieval and longer times has meant bread, dairy, beer, and any incidental vegetables or fruit. Meat was a luxury. I think “French Breakfast” was maybe a baguette and butter and any embellishment. Kind of like, the “Ploughman’s Lunch”.
I mean, it isn’t natto.
Hell, even Jacques Pepin says that his last meal would be a warm out of the bakeries ovens at 5 am, crusty French Baguette with salted butter. “French Breakfast”. MIn3, German experience is similar, german breakfast, still warm at the bakery broetchchen, with melting salted butter and zuecker rueben sirup. Related to the radishes as a tuber.
But, the Giant Wlhite Radishes they eat in Germany, do seem to be related to Daikon?
I braise radishes w/ garlic and butter…so yummy. I also use them in a winter root veggie braise.
What about slugs? I’ll see if the store has seeds and put some with the peas in the planter.