The racy root

To make a home-made horseradish sauce:

1. Grate fresh horseradish into whipped double or soured cream, Greek yoghurt or crème fraîche (use a ratio of 4 tbsp horseradish to 400ml cream).
2. Add a little mustard for colour, lemon juice, salt, pepper and sugar, then heat and serve. The ratio of cream to horseradish will determine how much kick the sauce has, so adapt them to taste. For a hotter version, stir grated horseradish into white wine vinegar and then season.

Alternatively, make a white sauce like this:

1. Melt some butter and then adding plain flour.
2. Stir for a minute or two over a low heat to cook the flour, then slowly stir in some milk. When the sauce comes to the boil, turn the heat down and cook for about 10 minutes, then stir in some grated fresh horseradish and season to taste.
3. When the sauce is thick, leave it to cool, then stir in a knob of butter and a teaspoonful of mustard. Stir well and serve hot or cold.

Jazz up your jar

If you can’t find fresh horseradish, ready-made sauce – a pale imitation of the real thing – is available in jars. To beef it up try any of these additions:

• 2 tsp very finely chopped chives and a squeeze of lemon juice
• 2 tbsp crème fraiche, soured cream, double cream or Greek yoghurt for a creamier texture.
• 2 tbsp very finely chopped gherkins (cornichons) or pickled cucumber, and a crushed clove of garlic to give an Eastern European flavour.
• Juice of half a lemon, 1 tbsp sour cream and 1 tsp mustard.
• 2 tsp drained capers, finely chopped, 1 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, a squeeze of lemon juice, and salt and pepper.

If you're a real horseradish fan, check out this website: www.horseradish.org

Recipes: Horseradish steak