Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Wild Food guide to Sea Radish along with all the Sea Radish containing recipes presented on this site, with 6 recipes in total.

This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Cornish recipes added to this site.

These recipes, all contain Sea Radish as a major wild food ingredient.

Sea Radish (Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. maritima (Raphanus maritima)). Though typically classed as biennial, it typically has long leaves (up to 30cm) divided into lots of rounded lobes coming off the central vein, which is often a pinkish-red colour. They grow in a rosette (very evident when young) and are very rough textured. The flowers are cruciform (cross-shaped) with 4 bright yellow petals, similar to its relatives in the cabbage family. The seed pods are a very distinctive shape, with 2 or 3 distinct ‘peas’ and a long tapering end. The stems are thin and spindly, growing to around 1m and branching to hold a cloud of small flowers. Plants can either be solitary or can grow in large clumps. It is a member of the Brassicaceae (mustard) family.

Sea Raidsh is very much a coastal plant, rarely being found growing inland. It is common on the western coasts of England and on Welsh coasts but is uncommon in the east. It can be found on the south western Scottish coasts but not in the north or the east. In Ireland it is common on eastern and southern coasts and apart from a patch near County Clare, is less common in the west. The plants appear in early spring and tend to be one of the earliest of the season's wild greens.

The leaves, young stems, flowers, roots, young (green) seed pods (siliques) and mature seeds are all edible. The whole plant is hot and peppery tasting, a bit like cultivated radishes, wasabi and a hint of cabbages. Young leaves, flowers and young seed pods can be eaten raw or cooked. When the seed pods mature and harden too much to eat raw, they seeds can be ground and used as a spice, with a similar flavour profile to mustard seeds. The leaves can be added to salads, blitzed into a spicy sauce or mixed with other leaves and cooked as a potherb. The flowers can be sprinkled on a salad for a peppery kick, and the root can be used as a substitute for horseradish.

Personally, I'm a big fan of radishes, not so much the ones with the swollen roots, but the ones that produce edible seed pods... delicious. So when I found out we had aa wild sea radish that yielded edible pods I had to find it. Even better it was right on the coast and on my doorstep! Even better the seed pods of sea radish is a direct substitute for the radish pods used in many recipes on this site.

It should be noted that Sea Radish (Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. maritima) is the probable ancestor from which black radish (Raphanus sativus L. var. niger) was domesticated. Sea Radish is closely related to Wild Radish (Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. sativus) which has white or purple flowers rather than yellow.

References:

[1]. David Evans Notes from field observations, tastings and cookery experiments.
[2]. Huxley, A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992
[3]. Tanaka, T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World.
[4]. Lim T.K. Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants, Vols 1–8.
[5]. Thomas, G. S. Perennial Garden Plants
[6]. Milner, E. Trees of Britain and Ireland
[7]. Rose, F. & O'Reilly, C. The Wild Flower Key (Revised Edition) – How to identify wild plants, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland
[8]. Streeter, D. & Garrard, I. The Wild Flowers of the British Isles
[9]. Clapham, A.R.; Tutin, T.G. & Moore, D.M. Flora of the British Isles
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[11]. Jordan, P. & Wheeler, S. The Complete Book of Mushrooms: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Edible Mushrooms
[12]. Bunker, F.; Brodie, J.A.; Maggs, C.A. & Bunker, A. Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland.
[13]. Facciola, S. Cornucopia — A Source Book of Edible Plants