A topping for your favourite meat or a bit of a zing in your salad dressing – horseradish is one of our most versatile vegetables

Think of the hot stuff of the food world and you’ll probably come up with chilli peppers, Tabasco sauce, harissa and wasabi. But it’s easy to overlook the fact that in Britain we have our very own scorcher in the form of the lowly horseradish. A much-neglected food, it’s given us years of humble service. Now it’s due a little recognition.

Since the 1600s, this long, tapering, edible white root has been grated into a sauce that is now synonymous with roast beef. But as well as being a gutsy accompaniment for robust meat such as venison, wild boar, oxtail and roast gammon, horseradish sauce is also brilliant with smoked trout, mackerel and salmon. In Summer Cooking (Penguin, £6.99), Elizabeth David recommends it stirred into mayonnaise with a little chopped parsley and served with fish and salads. It also teams well with hard-boiled eggs and beetroot and can be added to stews and soups for a bit of a bite. Mixed in moderation with soft cheese, it gives a lift to sandwiches and canapés.

Horseradish also has a long history of medical use. No one who has cried their eyes out as they grated it will doubt its efficiency in sweating out colds. In Food in England (Little, Brown & Co, £14.99), Dorothy Hartley explains that horseradish has been used since medieval times as a ‘notable stomachic and treatment for scurvy, as well as a cure for common colds and neuralgia, and as an embrocation when mixed with an egg yolk’, (a dubious-sounding remedy still in use).

But what of its culinary uses? Sadly, today, this pungent ingredient seems to be limited to a walk-on part as an accompaniment to roast beef. Consequently, it can be tricky to track down the fresh root, though preserved grated horseradish, sold in jars, is a good substitute. Try specialist food shops (Harrods sells it in London), or grow the tough, hardy perennial yourself.

Horseradish root is sold in clumps (known as thongs) by Arne Herbs, near Bristol (01275 333399). Each clump costs £2.75. For more details see their website, www.arneherbs.co.uk. If you can track down the root, the best way to serve it ‘straight’ is to grate the washed and peeled root against the grain, then pile a small amount on to each serving of roast beef.

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