The spice of life
If you are having issues growing your own wasabi, but still crave that fiery kick, Bob has some great alternatives…
NOW I’m all for us growing anything and everything we please. However, sometimes we’re sold a promise that does not exactly hold true. The goji berry is a fine example of this. It’s not difficult to grow, but it’s reluctant to crop and never, ever luscious eating. Worse, the goji is a straggly shrub that takes up a lot of room. And this is a problem: a bad choice is stealing valuable garden space from something more useful.
That is if it even chooses to grow for you, which is the difficulty with wasabi. This tasty spice from Japan has been much vaunted and, indeed, has health-giving properties – apparently, it even reduces dental decay! Unfortunately, it’s not at all easy to keep alive in the drier half of the country. Wasabi prefers the grey, overcast, damp skies and cool, rainy weather of western and northern counties, finding the south and east too arid. (The same goes for mushrooms, with kits and on logs – most also need humid conditions, so are much easier where those prevail). Anyway, most wasabiflavoured foods contain very little real wasabi, if any at all. For economy, it’s nearly always replaced with a mixture of mustard and horseradish (Cochlearia armoracia). Common horseradish has a taste that’s near identical – and the good news is that horseradish is really easy to grow. Stick any bit in the ground and it grows. Indeed, pretty soon, it becomes quite hard to remove!
So if you want a similar taste with even more health-giving properties, sow some pots of a close relation of horseradish, Cochlearia officinalis. The dark green spoon-shaped leaves look much like watercress and are nearly as beneficial. In fact, the common name is scurvy grass, as it can be eaten as a sure cure for that vitamin deficiency. Admittedly, not the best name, though…
“Apparently, wasabi reduces dental decay!”