One of the things I like about radishes is their refreshing lack of versatility. When I decide how to prepare a radish, I’m not faced with the bewildering variety of choices that I have with, say, a vine-ripened tomato.
I could take that tomato and make a salad with onions, basil, olive oil and sherry vinegar. Or I could blend it into a gazpacho. Or I could simmer it with sherry and cream. I could make a sauce for pasta out of it with pancetta and olives. I could slow-roast it or I could add sugar, vinegar and spices to it and make a chutney out of that tomato. If I were a Michelin-starred chef I might even stuff the tomato with pistachio, orange zest and cinnamon, braise it in a caramel sauce and serve it with vanilla ice cream.
With a radish, as lovely as it is to look at, I’m more limited in my choices. Cooking radishes only brings out their sulfuric, cabbage-y flavor. Because radishes are fibrous and have a high water content, they don’t tend to blend up well. Their pungent, horseradishlike taste makes them clash with other flavors.
The best way I’ve found prepare radishes is either to slice and toss them into a salad or to eat them in the French way, on bread with butter and salt. I like to use a good farmhouse butter and flaked Malden salt, and I like to spice up my little snack with thinly sliced raw onions and a few capers as well.
John Broening cooks at Duo restaurant, .
Radish Toasts With Butter and Sea Salt
Serves 4.
Ingredients
4 slices pumpernickel bread
Farmhouse butter, softened
8 radishes, rinsed and stemmed, thinly sliced
Malden sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
A few tablespoons capers
1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
Extra-virgin olive oil
Directions
Toast the bread. Trim the crusts and butter generously. Cut the toasts into thirds and arrange the radishes on top of the butter. Season with the salt and pepper. Top with the capers, onions and a drizzle of the olive oil. Serve immediately.
