Eating Radishes à la française

 

When we first received black radishes in our weekly produce box, I referred to my go-to resource, the Bitt-man’s How to Cook Everything. He suggested eating them sliced with butter, salt, and pepper.

Huh?

My only previous encounters with radishes had been as shiny globes in mounds at salad bars, spicy slices in a restaurant garden salad, or the fastest growing vegetable that we never had any idea what to do with in our garden. Helene at French Foodie Baby had mentioned eating radishes with butter as had Karen in French Kids Eat Everything. But how? Melted on top? Cold in slices? How much per radish? I was quickly paralyzed by my overanalysis of such a simple vegetable and it’s most simple preparation.

The Black Radishes long gone, we received a bunch of red radishes this week, and I resolved to eat them immediately according to the preparation Dorie Greenspan provides in Around My French Table (drool-inducingly gorgeous, this is a book that will jump from temporary visitor, aka library book, to permanent resident in my home):

“If you want to serve radishes in the French style, wash them well, and if they came with stems and leaves, trim their topknots, leaving just enough greenery to serve as handles. Drop the radishes into a bowl of ice water and keep them there until serving. (You can even serve them on ice.) Serve the radishes whole accompanied by very soft butter for spreading on the radishes and a bowl of sea salt, preferably fleur de sel, for dipping; small rounds of dark bread or baguette are optional.”

Well, in 4 hours, our refrigerator froze our radishes; so I didn’t put them on ice. I carved little slices out of them, filled the slices with butter, and salted (and peppered) them. They were a quick, simple, refreshing veggie starter. I will never dip a radish in ranch again. Thanks to Dorie for the cure for my analysis paralysis. Now bring on the butter!